PI winding down for mastermind accused of killing co-worker

Apr 26, 2017 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

Neville Chandrawattie, who is the mastermind behind a $93M staged robbery at the El Dorado

MURDER ACCUSED: Neville Chandrawattie

Gold Trading Company in 2013, was further remanded to prison for the murder of his co-worker Darran Chanmangra which occurred on April 21, 2007 at Port Kaituma.
Yesterday, a preliminary inquiry into the offence continued before City Magistrate Judy Latchman during which it was discovered that two police ranks, Prem Narine and Troy Whitaker, have not completed giving their evidence in chief nor were they cross examined.
Prosecutor Glen Hanoman indicated that he will notify the witnesses to be present in court on May 9 for further taking of evidence. Once this is done, the prosecution will bring a close to its case.
Chandrawattie of Sparta, Essequibo, is being represented by Attorney Compton Richards. According to reports, during the robbery Chanmangra was shot and killed.
Chandrawattie was reportedly the General Manager (GM) of the Port Kaituma Region One Office of El Dorado Trading, responsible for the purchase of gold from miners.
It was reported that the GM and other workers plotted to stage the robbery. During the ordeal, Chandrawattie and some other workers were tied up and badly beaten. The men, leaving the GM tied up, reportedly took the gold and cash and headed back to Charity on the Essequibo Coast.
Detectives from Georgetown were called in to probe. It was reported that Chandrawattie hatched the plot after he misused some of the monies entrusted to him by the company. It was during the police investigation 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 parties involved.
In May 2016, Chandrawattie and his accomplice, Anil Dairam, of Blairmont, Berbice, pleaded guilty to stealing raw gold valued at $22M and $71M before Magistrate Alex Moore in the Matthew’s Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
Chandrawattie was jailed for five years while Dairam was sent to prison for four years.
The murder accused was charged in 2014 for the capital offence. He had spent 13 months on remand for the murder before he was granted bail in the sum of $750,000 by a Magistrate sitting in the Matthew’s Ridge Magistrate’s Courts.
However, the prosecutor at that time sought the intervention of former Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
They both ordered that the decision be ignored since a Magistrate has no authority to grant bail to a murder accused. That Magistrate subsequently recused himself from the matter and it was transferred before City Magistrate Judy Latchman.

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