East Coast businesswoman robbed at gunpoint

An East Coast Demerara businesswoman was yesterday afternoon robbed at gunpoint of $1.5M in cash and valuables shortly after she had visited a city commercial bank.

Reports reaching Stabroek News revealed that Maureen Boodram, the owner of Maureen’s Hangout bar and her taxi driver were held at gunpoint and robbed around 1.30 pm yesterday, shortly after arriving at her Ogle, ECD premises.

The robbery was carried out by a lone gunman who fled the scene on a motorcycle. He managed to escape with the cash which Boodram had withdrawn from the bank, important documents and her keys.

The money, this newspaper learnt was a loan that Boodram had received from the bank to carry out construction work at her premises.

While details surrounding the robbery are sketchy, Stabroek News understands that it is customary for the taxi driver to drive into Boodram’s yard whenever he returned with her from conducting business.

“She didn’t even come out from the car, when a guy (suspect) ran in and grabbed her bag from the window and then went around the driver side and tried to pull out the car keys and it broke. He had a gun all the time”, Boodram’s daughter told Stabroek News.

“It all happened really fast”, she added.

The woman said the incident has left her mother traumatized.

A report was made to the police and an investigation has since been launched.