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Magistrate finds case against Trini who faked own kidnapping but allows him to leave jurisdiction
A City Magistrate yesterday granted permission to a Trinidadian, who faked his kidnapping, to leave the jurisdiction and return to his homeland, despite finding sufficient evidence against him for the related offences.
Sawak Maraj, 33, a Chemical Engineer, was yesterday told by Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore that, after going through the entirety of the evidence led by Police Prosecutor Dominic Bess, she was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a prima facie case has been made out against him for the offences. Hence, he was called upon to lead a defence in the matter.
Particulars of the first charge against Maraj alleged that on October 27, last, at Georgetown, he knowingly gave false information to the police, stating that he was kidnapped and that his abductors demanded US$700,000 for his release.
It was further alleged that on the same day at Madewini Resort, Soesdyke/Linden Highway, Maraj conspired with other persons to negotiate to obtain a ransom of US$700,000. The Trinidadian pleaded not guilty to both charges and was released on $1M bail by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on his second court appearance after spending three weeks on remand for the offences.
A condition of the bail was that Maraj lodge his passport with the Clerk of Court until the hearing and determination of the trial in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
However, when the matter was called yesterday, Maraj opted to give an unsworn testimony to the court. He stated “Your worship, I am a qualified engineer and police have a copy of my degree. I came to Guyana seeking a job from ExxonMobil.”
Trinidadian Sawak Maraj
Maraj went on to tell the court that he was contacted by one Jason Abraham, who was acting on behalf of ExxonMobil, who responded to an email he had sent to the company’s email address.
The Trinidadian went on to tell the court that he came to Guyana with legitimate expectation and full confidence, after hearing about the findings that Exxon made offshore at one of their exploration area.
He further added that, on arrival at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), he met a man by the name of Abraham, who led him into a taxi, which had one other person apart from the driver.
A composed Maraj went on to tell the court that he was driven to several locations and that’s when he realized that something was wrong.
He told the court that he was taken to a hotel and a cutlass was placed to his throat, and he was threatened.
“I became very afraid; I knew no one and I was very confused. I was visibly relieved when the police came shortly after my capturers had fled,” he told the court.
He added that the taxi driver wrote a statement, which cleared his name from charges and assisted the police to form a case against him.
“I am not guilty of any of these charges. Your worship, at no point and time did I agree with anyone to fake my kidnapping. All this time, I still believed that Abraham was a bona fide employer of Exxon, who was at the airport to facilitate as a recipient on Exxon’s behalf,” Maraj noted.
Soon after Maraj concluded his testimony, his lawyer Senior Counsel Bernard DeSantos made an application for his client to return to Trinidad, and return to Guyana on his next court date, which is set for February 2, 2019.
The application of the lawyer did not sit well with Prosecutor Bess, who strongly objected to Maraj’s passport being returned to him.
The Prosecutor added that he was not satisfied that Maraj would return to Guyana if his travel documents were returned to him.
The lawyer then told the court that his client had been in Guyana for the past year and had been finding it difficult to maintain himself.
He added that, if the court is mindful, his client’s mother was willing to lodge $500,000 to the bail, which was set at $1M to guarantee that his client will return to Guyana.
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