Bisram given until mid-March to fight extradition

Feb 18, 2018 News

---

Embattled New York-based Guyanese businessman, Marcus Bisram, has been given until March 15 to file a response in a last ditch attempt to fight his extradition.
Failure to convince New York Judge, Kiyo A. Matsumoto, will result in a decision of the matter being referred to US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson who will make the decision for Bisram to be sent to Guyana to face a murder charge.
Late last year, Bisram was ordered held after a judge found that he is extraditable to Guyana. Bisram’s lawyer immediately, in November, filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus- that Bisram be produced. It would be the last procedure that the businessman had to fight his extradition.
An extradition from the US to Guyana is highly unusual.
In January, Assistant Legal Advisor of the Department of State, Washington, Tome Heinemann, filed a declaration in which it was disclosed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guyana on January 18, 2018, transmitted its request for the extradition of Bisram.
The Ministry made it clear then that the charges for Bisram’s extradition remained pending in Guyana with the warrant included in the extradition still valid.
The documents by the Legal Advisor filed in the New York court also contained an Affidavit In Answer by Director of Public Prosecutions in Guyana, Shalimar Ali-Hack.
She swore that the decision to institute a charge and then hold an inquiry was not irrational. Rather, it was made in accordance with the law and based on evidence of witnesses.
In his Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Bisram’s petition, Richard Donoghue, US Attorney disclosed that Bisram (the “fugitive”) is wanted for murder in Guyana.
He said that the Government of Guyana has obtained a warrant for his arrest in Guyana and has sought his extradition from the US.
“Rather than appear in Guyana and face the charge against him, the fugitive has remained in the United States, challenging his extradition and now seeking to delay the extradition by filing a meritless petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging the order certifying his extraditability issued on October 12, 2017.”
The US Attorney disclosed that Bisram fugitive challenges both the validity of the extradition treaty between the United States and Guyana, a matter which he conceded before Magistrate Judge Kuo, and the existence of probable cause to believe that he committed the crime with which he is charged.
“Because the Government of Guyana unambiguously assumed the United Kingdom’s treaty obligations upon obtaining its independence, and because the evidence adduced in the extradition proceeding included sworn eyewitness affidavits describing exactly where, when, and how the defendant committed the offence with which he is charged in Guyana, the Government respectfully requests that the Court deny his petition, permitting the Secretary of State to determine whether to extradite the fugitive to face the charge currently pending against him.”
The argument filed last week said that Bisram’s challenge to his extradition relies largely on his assertion that the charge against him has been dismissed—a claim that is simply untrue.
“Accordingly, the fugitive’s petition should be denied,” Donoghue pleaded.
Record Time

In October, less than a year after a shocking case that alleged a police cover-up and attempted bribery of investigators into the killing of a Berbice carpenter, a New York court ordered Bisram, be extradited to face the court in Guyana.
Bisram, well-known in Berbice for his philanthropic efforts to the police community and other charities, will be handed over to the US marshals pending his extradition by the Secretary of State. However, there are some formalities to be handled by the Secretary of State before he can be placed on a plane.
The processing of Bisram would come in seeming record time as it was only eight months before that ruling in October that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested that he be sent back to Guyana to face a murder charge in the killing of Narinedatt.
Narinedatt was beaten after he allegedly rebuffed Bisram’s sexual advances early November 2016.
The carpenter was allegedly dumped in the trunk of a car owned by an acquaintance of the businessman, driven to a public road in Berbice and the scene made to look like a hit-and-run accident had taken place.
The businessman was arrested at a New York beach front property, in Far Rockaway, Queens, in early July after a US Judge had issued a warrant for him. Prior to that, Bisram was posted on the Interpol wanted list.
Once the court has denied the habeas relief, Bisram has to surrender to Guyana. The US government also made it clear that it may oppose any application for a stay.
Bisram’s alleged actions in November 2016 in Berbice, caused four men to be charged for the murder of Narinedatt.
Radesh Motie, 39, an excavator operator, of Lot 124, Number 78 Village Corentyne, Berbice; Diadath Datt, 18, of Lot 98, Number 71 Village, Corentyne, Berbice; Harripaul Parsram, 49, of Lot 164, Number 71 Village, Corentyne, Berbice and Niran Yacoob, 37, of Lot 65, Number 67 Village, Corentyne, Berbice were remanded to prison when they appeared before Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan, in November last year.
Also charged was Bisram’s mother, Shermella Inderjali, 45, a mother of two, of Number 71 Village, Corentyne, Berbice.
She and Maryanne Lionel, 25, a bank teller of Republic Bank, also of Number 71 Village, Corentyne, Berbice were arrested during a sting operation.
They were charged for willfully attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Narinedatt had a son with wife, Pooja Pitam. His daughter was born after his death.
Pitam travelled to the US and was in front of the Brooklyn court in early July when Bisram was arraigned, two days after his arrest.
Bisram’s fall would shock friends and family. Living the dream life, he reportedly had a luxury apartment in the pricy Manhattan area and was very active on the social circuit and in the mandirs.
He reportedly left Guyana when he was a teen. He is 28 now and would have spent his August 20 birthday in jail, pending his extradition hearings.
He was reportedly close to a number of high-ranking cops in Berbice, who allegedly were fingered in attempting to cover up the murder.

---

---