Latest update December 23rd, 2024 3:40 AM
GM, accomplice jailed in $93M staged robbery of gold trader
Two men, including a former General Manager (GM) of major gold trader, El Dorado Trading Guyana,
Mastermind: Neville Chandrawattie – jailed for five years.
have pleaded guilty in a 2013 high-profile staged robbery involving over $93M in gold and cash.
The former GM, Neville ‘Sunil’ Chandrawattie of Sparta, Essequibo Coast, had been facing joint charges with Anil Diaram, a Blairmont, Berbice farmer.
The two were part of a group that devised a plot to take the cash and gold of El Dorado Trading, a company owned by businessman Tamesh Jagmohan, and make it look like a robbery. During the staged robbery, Chandrawattie was tied up.
Two other men, Amerola “Iron Roller” Kudratulla and Kenneth Garraway, were also charged with the crime in late 2013.
On Monday, Diaram was the first to throw in the towel. He pleaded guilty to a charge of larceny involving the theft of 96 ounces of raw gold valued at $22M and $71M in cash from El Dorado Trading. He was also facing a charge of felonious wounding of a worker of the company during the crime.
Magistrate Alex Moore, who was assigned to preside over the case at the Matthews Ridge Magistrate’s Court, Region One, jailed Diaram for four years.
Yesterday, when the case continued at that court, the GM, who masterminded the plot, also decided to plead guilty.
Special Prosecutor, Glenn Hanoman, who had been appointed to prosecute the case on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was set to call 11 witnesses, including police, who were all ready to give evidence yesterday.
Chandrawattie was represented by attorney-at-law Compton Richardson. He faced four offences, including gun possession. He was jailed for five years.
Chandrawattie is also facing a charge for murder in a separate case. In late 2013, he was accused of participating in a 2007 robbery in which Dharamchan Mangra was shot and killed. Two other persons had been charged with that murder.
Jailed for four years: Anil Diaram
Meanwhile, the other persons charged for that $93M robbery, Amerola Kudratulla and Kenneth Garraway, will have to return to the court on August 8.
The case had made headlines in late 2013 when it first broke.
Chandrawattie was reportedly in charge of the Port Kaituma, Region One office of El Dorado Trading, responsible for the purchase of gold from miners. Garraway was said to be a boat captain who operates between Port Kaituma and Charity.
It was reported that the GM and Kudratulla, who is known to the boat captain, worked on a plot to stage a robbery at the Port Kaituma office.
Kudratulla went to Port Kaituma on the boat and spent a few days carefully crafting the crime.
He was secreted under a bed and later surprised workers of the gold trading company. The workers were tied up and one was badly beaten with a gun. Also tied up was the GM, who had masterminded the plot.
The men, leaving the GM tied up, reportedly took the gold and cash and headed back to Charity on the Essequibo Coast, where they split up.
City police had headed to the area, looking at surveillance video and other evidence.
Several men were arrested and questioned.
Chandrawattie reportedly decided to hatch the plot after he misused some of the monies he had entrusted to him by the company. It was during the police investigations that the mastermind cracked under pressure. He reportedly confessed to planning the heist and gave detectives a detailed account of the plot, including the names of all the players involved.
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