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Magistrate defers ruling in Dr. Westford $600M larceny trial
Dr. Jennifer Westford
Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman has deferred her ruling on whether the prosecution has proven a case beyond reasonable doubt in the trial of former Minister of Public Service Dr. Jennifer Westford and her Personnel Officer Ms. Margaret Cummings.
Together, Dr. Westford and Ms. Cummings have both denied 24 simple larceny charges which alleged that between August 2011 and April 2015, while being employed in the Public Service of Guyana, they stole $639,420,000.
They are currently out on $4.8M bail each.
The ruling, which was initially set for Tuesday, was put off until next Friday, August 24, after a request was made by lawyers for the defendant.
According to court facts, Westford was employed as Minister of Public Service from 2001-2015, while her co-accused was the principal personnel officer of the Ministry. Cummings was also in charge of the Ministry’s accounts department.
Margaret Cummings
It was alleged that on numerous occasions Westford signed memoranda amounting to $639,420,000 and sent them to the Office of the President for approval. Approval was granted and cheques were prepared and encashed by Bank of Guyana (BoG). The monies were requested to carry out various activities throughout the 10 administrative regions. However, personnel from the various regions were contacted and denied ever receiving the cash. Investigations were carried out but the monies were never recovered.
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