Latest update January 1st, 2025 1:00 AM
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Officer facing charges for manipulating Immigration system
An immigration officer is before the city magistrate court facing charges for forgery of the Border Management System (B.M.S).
Jonathan Rausch, 24, of 63 Garnett Street, Georgetown and an immigration officer stood before Chief Magistrate Ann Mc Lennan in the Georgetown Magistrates Court yesterday.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge, which alleged that on April 1, at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri, East Bank Demerara, with intent to defraud, he conspired with person/s to forge the BMS, purporting to show that Juan Carlos Maquilon Perez and two others entered Guyana on March 27.
The accused was slapped with three charges, one for each individual. Rausch was released on a total of $150,000 bail; $50,000 on each charge. He will return to court on September 27.
According to the Police Prosecutor, on the day in question Rausch was on duty at CJIA where Beech jet Number N119tc arrived from Aruba for an emergency fuel stop.
Immigration Officer Jonathan Rausch
Subsequently, the aircraft departed with Juan Carlos Maquilon Perez along with two others whose nationalities and pass records are unknown. The court heard that apart from landing in Guyana, the aircraft made stops in Columbia and Florida without any foregoing notices or documentations, as required by the laws governing Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (G.C.A.A).
This aroused the suspicion of officials at the airport and an investigation was launched.
The investigation revealed that Perez’s name along with the two others were in the BMA, although they were not arriving passengers who were onboard another aircraft, flight COPA CM 254 (an aircraft known to fly from Guyana to Panama) which had arrived at CJIA five days earlier.
Further investigation revealed that none of the three names was featured on the manifest; neither were there any embarkement or disembarkment cards in favour of these persons as is prescribed by law.
Due to this abnormality a thorough check of the BMS was done. It was discovered that Rausch, the immigration officer on duty at the time, used his personal username to access the BMS and made entries to show that Perez and the two others entered Guyana on March 27, aboard the COPA flight #Cm245. However, the trio arrived here on April 1.
Nevertheless, legal advice was sought resulting in the arrest and charges being laid against the immigration officer.
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