Woman charged with stealing $684,000 from shopper’s bag

Denise Hamilton
Denise Hamilton

A woman who police say was seen in surveillance footage stealing a bag containing United States and Guyana currency was yesterday remanded to prison after being charged with the offence.

Denise Hilliman, also known as Joy Hamilton, was arraigned in a Georgetown Court, where Senior Magistrate Leron Daly refused bail after reading the charge. It is alleged that on January 17, at Robb Street, Georgetown, Hilliman stole US$3,070, equivalent to $614,000, and $70,000, which were the property of Maylin Ortiz Rodriguez.

Hilliman was remanded until March 25, after giving a not guilty plea.

The prosecution’s case is that on January 17, Rodriguez was shopping in a store at Robb Street. She placed her bag containing the money in the store’s bag bay. She then returned and collected the bag which she then searched and saw that her purse with the money was missing. She made a report to the police, who then launched an investigation.

The police checked the CCTV footage from the store and saw Hilliman removing the purse from the bag bay. Hilliman was then contacted on January 17, and questioned about the purse. She indicated that she was in the area but she did not remove the bag. The police conducted a search of her person and found $56,700 in her possession. She was then arrested and placed in custody.