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‘Strip Club’ owner finally appears in court, remanded on TIP charges
The owner of the Diamond Hotel and Night Club, located at George and Princes Streets, Georgetown, has finally made his way to the courts after evading the police for almost two months on two charges of Trafficking in
Freeman Fordyce
Persons(TIP).
Freeman Fordyce, 41, of Lot 99 Collingswood Avenue, Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara, is accused of trafficking two Venezuelans for sexual exploitation at his club. The matter allegedly took place between September and November 2018.
Yesterday, the defendant walked into the courtroom of Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts where the charges were read to him. He pleaded not guilty to both charges and was remanded to prison. He was instructed to return to court on May 8, when his matter will continue.
Fordyce had been released on his own recognizance (self-bail) in relation to the charges at the station, and was instructed to report to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), pending his arraignment in court; however, he failed to do so.
When the matters were first called in court, Fordyce also failed to show up. A summons and arrest warrant were issued for him after the police had issues finding him to be brought before the courts.
According to information, police carried out a raid at the club which lead to the arrest of 15 women, all said to be foreign nationals.
This was after a video circulated on social media, which showed a woman jumping over a locked gate to get into the Diamond Hotel and Night Club compound. The woman was being assisted by four of her friends who were on the other side of the fence.
They were holding up barbed wire so that the woman could have gained entry. Hours after the video hit social media, police raided the compound and detained the 15 women, whom investigators suspected to be victims of trafficking in persons (TIP).
The woman, Dailyn Garcia, 25, a Venezuelan, who was seen climbing the fence, was later charged for overstaying her time in Guyana. She was fined $30,000 for the offence or in default six months imprisonment.
Fordyce was handed a suspended sentence recently by Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty on an illegal gun and ammo charge, after he was found guilty. The Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions has since appealed the Magistrate’s decision.
A suspended sentence allows a judge or magistrate to decide that the offence is serious enough for a jail term; however, it is not put into immediate effect. If the person is charged again after the suspended sentence is passed then they would serve the jail time.
Moreover, Fordyce’ attorney Nigel Hughes had indicated that the defendant would not be serving the suspended sentence because the current allegation took place before the charge for the firearm and ammunition; therefore, it does not apply to the laws of a suspended sentence.
Fordyce is also currently on trial for assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.
He was charged after video footage showed him (Fordyce) resisting being searched and then punching a police Inspector in the face.
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