False pretense, fraudulent conversion and falsification of accounts matters

May 30, 2021 News

By Renay Sambach

Kaieteur News – Fraud is the wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain. Fraud-related matters are serious offences and carry jail time.
In this article, I will highlight some common fraud charges, penalties and some related court matters. According to the Criminal Law Offence Act, there are multiple types of fraud charges that indicate the depth of the offence. Those offences are false pretense, fraudulent conversion and falsification of accounts.

FALSE PRETENSE
False pretense is one of the most prevalent fraud offences. The law outlines, “Everyone who, by any false pretense, obtains from any other person any chattel, money, or valuable security, with intent to defraud, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to imprisonment for three years: provided that if, on the trial of any person indicted for that misdemeanour, it is proved that he obtained the property in question in any manner amounting in law to larceny, he shall not by reason thereof be entitled to be acquitted of the misdemeanour, and no one tried for the misdemeanour shall be liable to be afterward prosecuted for larceny upon the same facts.”
One recent reported matter of someone who was charged for obtaining money under false pretense is that of former policeman, Paul Watson, of Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo. He, according to reports, obtained $420,000 under the pretense that he was in a position to obtain a firearm licence for an individual.
According to a police report, Watson was previously charged for a matter of similar nature. Moreover, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has since appealed to persons who may have been defrauded by Watson under similar circumstances to report the matter to the nearest police station.
Another matter is that of the Greenwich Park, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) pharmacist who was charged during September 2016, for obtaining money by false pretense.
It was reported that Arnold Gajraj of Lot 7 Greenwich Park, East Bank Essequibo, obtained $750,000 from Hemchand John by pretending that he was in a position to have John’s relatives, Hempersaud John and Chitra John, released from police custody in the United States. The relatives were reportedly caught with a stolen computer and other items.
The arrangement was for John to pay Gajraj some $1.5 million to have his relatives released from custody. As such, John had handed over $750,000 to Gajraj but later realised that he had been tricked.

FRAUDULENT CONVERSION
Fraudulent Conversion is the action of taking into possession another man’s money or property and converting or using it fraudulently for one’s own use and benefit.
For the past several months, 24-year-old Micah Sonaram, of Lot 2273 Flying Fish Street, North Ruimveldt, Georgetown, appeared in court on multiple occasions before different Magistrates after he was charged with FRAUDULENT CONVERSION.
According to reports, Sonaram is facing multiple charges that are similar in nature. He reportedly defrauded several persons using his social media business page, Parts Zone Gy, which advertises that he ships parts and machinery.
His most recent charge alleges that on November 4, 2020, at North Road, Georgetown, while being solely entrusted with $7 million by Steve De Costa to purchase and deliver one excavator, he fraudulently converted the money to his own use and benefit.
Prior to that, he was slapped with two fraud charges, which alleges that he defrauded persons of over $11 million. Additionally, during December 2020, he was charged for defrauding a businessman of $4.5 million and in 2017, he was charged for defrauding another man of over $5.8 million.
However, Sonaram was never convicted on any of his previous charges.

FALSIFICATION OF ACCOUNTS
“Everyone who, being an officer, clerk or servant or being employed for the purpose or in the capacity of an officer, clerk or servant, willfully and with intent to defraud— (a) destroys, alters, mutilates, or falsifies any book, paper, writing, valuable security, document, or account belonging to or in the possession of his employer, or received by him for or on behalf of his employer; or (b) makes, or concurs in making, any false entry in, or omits or alters, or concurs in omitting or altering, any material particular from or in, any book, paper, writing, valuable security, document, or account aforesaid, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to imprisonment for seven years,” this is according to the Criminal Law Offences Act.
One of the most popular stories of falsification of accounts is that of Peter Ramcharran of Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara, a former Accountant of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB). During February 2020, Ramcharran was found guilty of the offence and he was convicted for omitting $145M from the GRDB ledger.
Ramcharran was sentenced to three years imprisonment for one of the five falsifications of account charges.
His sentence was handed down by Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan. In handing down her ruling, the Magistrate underscored that she is of the view that Ramcharran intended to willfully deprive the entity of the monies with his unlawful action.
Ramcharran’s three-year conviction was one of the first major convictions for the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), an arm of the Guyana Police Force. However, weeks after he was sentenced, his lawyer filed an appeal against the conviction and Ramcharran was released on $2M High Court bail.
According to reports, he was slapped with 39 fraud-related charges. The charges that were levelled against him alleged that he fraudulently converted and misappropriated funds.
The offences, according to SOCU, took place between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2015, at the GRDB’s Lot 16-17 Cowan Street, Kingston, Georgetown headquarters.