Charges against Businessman implicated in carjacking dropped

Nov 01, 2022 Court Stories, News

Kaieteur News – Andrew Archibald Samaroo, the Businessman, who was implicated earlier this year as the mastermind of a major carjacking ring has been freed.

Andrew Archibald Samaroo who the charges were dropped against.

Samaroo, back in February was slapped with two charges, conspiracy to defraud and armed robbery (hijacking a car), however, the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court dropped both charges against the Defendant due to a lack of evidence.

The conspiracy to defraud charge was dropped two months ago, while on Monday, the armed robbery charge was dismissed.

Kaieteur News had reported back in January, that the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) had made another dent in a carjacking ring, where a workshop owner, Ravin Singh, and a prominent Auto Dealer, identified as Andrew Samaroo Archibald were charged.

It was previously reported that SOCU was called in to investigate the matter after a taxi driver, identified as Steve Mootooveren, was lured into a trap by a young woman and had his brand new Toyota Allion hijacked in Cane View Avenue, South Ruimveldt. Mootooveren was plying his trade at the Giftland Mall, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, when the woman hired him around 18:30hrs on January 15.

The taxi driver had told this publication that he does not accept hires to certain areas in Georgetown at night, because he feared being robbed. However, seeing as it was a woman and she looked innocent he decided to take the job. He did not expect that the harmless looking woman was actually leading him into a trap, to be carjacked, when they arrived at their destination. She disappeared and a gunman dragged him out of his car and drove away with it.

SOCU ranks would later recover his car, getting repainted at a workshop located at Montrose, East Coast Demerara (ECD). The carjackers had already changed the number plate and some of the parts, but the investigators had busted them before they could have filed off the chassis number. SOCU had managed to locate another car stolen by the same ring at another workshop at Happy Acres, ECD, a Toyota Premio, that was stolen in November 2021 from in front of its owner’s home at Beterverwagting.

The investigation led them to detain six persons including the gunman, identified as Leon Lewis called ‘Turbo’, who allegedly hijacked Mootooveren.

The young woman involved was never caught.

A wanted bulletin was issued for the Auto Dealer, Archibald and he had later turned himself in.

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