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Magistrate dismisses fraud case brought against 76-year-old man
Kaieteur News- Senior Magistrate Sunil Scarce on Friday upheld a no case submission, dismissing a fraud charge against 76-year-old Vishnu Mungal who was charged with obtaining money by false pretense.
Mungal had been accused of obtaining $14,040,000 by false pretense, with the prosecution alleging that he had tricked Karan Singh into believing he owned a barge and could deliver 5,000 tons of stones on March 2, 2023.
76-year-old Vishnu Mungal (Photo from Vishnu Mungal Facebook page)
The matter was tried by Senior Magistrate Scarce at the Diamond Magistrates’ Court. Mungal made his first appearance on November 1, 2023 and denied the allegation put to him. He was placed on $100,000 bail.
Defense lawyer, Bernard Da Silva, in a no case submission pointed out that Singh had never directly paid money to Mungal, nor had he sent the funds to an account owned by the defendant. Instead, Singh had wired the money to an account in Trinidad associated with New World Transport, a company he had previously done business with.
Da Silva argued that the transaction demonstrated that there was no direct link between Mungal and the money, undermining the fraud charge.
“Karan Singh was the main witness in this matter. During his evidence, under cross examination he admitted as follows: that, he never paid any money directly to the defendant, or any account operated by him, or bearing his name,” the lawyer said in his no case submission to the court.
The defense argued that Singh’s decision to send money to a familiar account reflected trust in a business relationship and not fraud.
The lawyer also stated that Singh admitted during cross examination, “That, he is aware that, New World Transport is located in Trinidad, even though he claimed to never visit and that, he is familiar with someone by the name of Brian Balfour of New World Transport [NWT] with whom he did business on previous occasions.”
“He (Singh) also said that, he spoke with Brian Balfour many times on the phone,” Da Silva added.
Taking that into account the Attorney highlighted that the complainant’s actions, including wiring money to a trusted company account, suggest that the transaction was contractual rather than fraudulent. He stated that there is no evidence that the defendant received or controlled the money sent by Singh, nor is there any proof that he intended to defraud Singh.
Moreover, Da Silva cited legal precedents to support the argument that, based on the evidence presented, there is no case for the defendant to answer and the evidence provided by the prosecution is insufficient.
After reviewing the submission, the magistrate ruled in favor of the no case submission and concluded that the transaction was a contract and not a fraudulent conversion.
(Magistrate dismisses fraud case brought against 76-year-old man)
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