A man was yesterday sentenced in absentia to four months in jail and fined a total of $60,000 after being found guilty of using a forged disablement voucher with the intention of defrauding the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).
The first charge against David Ali, 40, stated that between February 13th and May 7th, at Georgetown, he forged an NIS disablement pension voucher, dated May 7th, 2018 and issued for the sum of $9,695, purporting to show that the sum was $90,695. Ali was also charged with uttering a forged voucher to Saskia George on May 7th, knowing same to be false.
During his initial appearance before Magistrate Fabayo Azore, Ali had told the court that he sustained injury to both of his legs and was dependent on his disablement benefits.
Ali was set to appear before Magistrate Annette Singh on Wednesday and yesterday to lead his defence in the matter, however he never showed up to do so.
As a result, in his absence, Magistrate Singh found the accused guilty of the crime and sentenced him to two months in jail for each charge and also fined him $30,000 on each charge.
The matter was prosecuted by Police Prosecutor Sergeant Jillian Simmons.
