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Foreign nationals fined for forgery, overstaying
… after raid at Rio Night Club/Inn
Four women – three nationals of the Dominican Republic and a Cuban – were yesterday fined and ordered deported after they were slapped with charges of forgery, overstaying and illegal entry.
The women, Branelly Morillo Montero, Carmen Doloves Martano Carcia, Visleini Ferrier, all of the Dominican Republic, and Yasnely Labrada Baeza of Havana, Cuba, were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
They pleaded guilty to separate charges which stated that with intent to defraud they conspired with a person or persons unknown to forge one Guyana immigration service arrival and departure stamp in their respective national passports, purporting to show that same was issued by the Guyana Immigration Department. However, the charge read to Ferrier further stated that she forged a tourist visa in her passport.
She was also charged for entering Guyana at Springlands, Corentyne, and failing to present herself to an immigration officer. The quartet also pleaded guilty to failing to comply with conditions to which any permit is granted; in that they overstayed the prescribed period granted to them.
They were each fined $50,000 on the forgery charge with an alternative of six weeks imprisonment. On the overstaying charge, they were each fined $30,000 or in default, four weeks imprisonment. Ferrier was fined $30,000 on the illegal entry charge with an alternative of four weeks in prison.
The Chief Magistrate also ordered that the women be escorted to the nearest port of exit upon payment of their fines or serving the prison terms.
Police Prosecutor Neville Jeffers told the court that the women were arrested after police ranks swooped down on the Rio Night Club/Inn and conducted a search last Friday.
He said that checks made on the women’s passports revealed that some of them had suspicious arrival and departure stamps and tourist visas. Prosecutor Jeffers said that the women were arrested and investigations were launched, which revealed that none of the stamps and neither the visas were issued by the Central Immigration and Passport Office.
While Ferrier arrived in Guyana from Suriname via Springlands, Corentyne, the others came via the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. The foreign nationals were all represented by Attorney Mark Waldron who told the court that his clients took full responsibility for their actions. According to Waldron, all of them had return tickets to their country of citizenship.
Ferrier, the lawyer said, was stamped out by immigration in Suriname and advised to use the “back track” route to Guyana. He said that his client was assured by authorities that this was legal to do. Additionally, Waldron requested that a thorough investigation be launched, since Ferrier paid an immigration officer US$300 for the tourist visa. The investigating rank (IR) who was presented in court related that investigations are still ongoing into Ferrier’s claims.
According to reports, the women were arrested after police descended on the city night club. It was reported that a small quantity of narcotics including a gram of cocaine was also found during the raid.
Last July, six citizens of the Dominican Republic, who were removed from the Rio Night Club/Inn after police conducted another raid, were fined and deported for overstaying their time in Guyana and forging work permits.
The court was told that the women Shakira Alcantara; Estefani Orozco; Elizabeth Rosario; Yaliana Parez; Yesenia Holguin and Seleyny Rodrigues, were arrested on July 14, 2016 after police in collaboration with the Trafficking In Person (TIP) Unit Ministry of Social Protection raided the entertainment spot and discovered that the women were illegally in Guyana.
It was reported that the women were held at the Rio Night Club where they worked as strippers and provided other erotic services to clients in exchange for cash.
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