Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
Police reinstitute charges against embattled gold dealer
Police have reinstituted six new charges against embattled gold dealer Mohamed Rafeek Rasul,
Gold Dealer: Mohamed Rafeek Rasul
who is currently under investigation for money laundering by the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU).
The new charges for obtaining credit by false pretence comes two weeks after Rasul appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts and pleaded not guilty to six charges which had alleged that he obtained a total of $956M from GBTI by falsely pretending he had cash in his account at Citizens Bank to honour the Citizens Bank cheques, he encashed.
Yesterday, Attorney for Rasul, Sandil Kissoon, made an application before Magistrate Crystal Lambert presiding at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court to have the new charges dismissed.
According to the lawyer, the particulars of the new charges are identical to the charges that were withdrawn. He explained that the new charges contained the same date, cheque numbers and the amount of money as the old charges. Sandil Kissoon, however, pointed out that the new charges were filed under a different section of the Criminal Law Offence Act.
On these grounds, the lawyer made an application before the Magistrate to have the charges dismissed in the presence of Prosecutor Ian Chang, former Chief Justice (ag).
The lawyer explained that the charges were withdrawn after his client entered not guilty pleas and that this amounts to a dismissal. He added that reinstituting the identical charges after a withdrawal of the previous charges gives rise to a Plea In Bar which means that his client cannot be tried again.
Magistrate Lambert will on May 12 make a ruling on the defence application.
The lawyer is furthermore contending that it is unethical for Justice Chang to prosecute the case since he is a former CJ and former member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) which appointed the Magistrate.
According to the lawyer, such an action is not permitted by law.
Prosecutor Justice Ian Chang
Attorney Kissoon noted that in most Commonwealth states there is an express provision preventing a retired judge from practicing as an Attorney-at-Law in the court.
Chang who went into retirement earlier this year was granted permission by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to take over prosecution of the case against Rasul from police.
According to reports, at a GBTI branch in Bartica cheques were drawn on Citizens Bank and over $900M was deposited to Rasul’s account.
It is protocol that banks would normally place a three day hold on other bank’s cheques until they are cleared, before paying out monies.
But it seems as though this protocol was not followed by officials at GBTI.
A senior female manager at GBTI has been sent home after it was discovered she was involved in authorizing the payments. The former bank manager was subsequently questioned by police.
However, it is the lawyer’s contention that his client is being criminalized for the negligence of the bank. The lawyer is arguing that the bank paid out the cheques without verifying that there were sufficient funds in his client’s business account.
According to Attorney Kissoon, upon the receiving payments from the Guyana Gold Board his client would deposit the monies into his business account at Citizen’s back. He said that transfers are then made by his clients to his personal account at GBTI on the basis of which cheques are issued.
He said that Citizens Bank closed Rasul’s account during March and prior to a notice of closure being sent to him; cheques were already issued on this same account at GBTI.
Rasul, the owner of SSS Minerals Trading Enterprise is currently out on $3M bail with instructions to report to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown. He has also been ordered to lodge his passport.
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