Kitty woman in court for fraud

A 31-year-old woman was, on Thursday, taken before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. She was charged for making a false declaration in order to obtain a Guyana passport.

Unique Angelica Hope of Thomas Street, Kitty, pleaded not guilty to the charge which read that, on January 17, 2018, at the Central Immigration and Passport Office, Georgetown, for the purpose of procuring a new passport, she signed a written document stating that she was Coretta Hope.

Police Prosecutor Annalisa Brummell told the court that Hope was given her first passport and went to Barbados. However, the defendant overstayed and was deported back to Guyana.
When the defendant returned to Guyana, she obtained another passport under the name of ‘Onika Ann Benjamin’ and went back to Barbados. Again, the defendant overstayed her time and was deported.

On January 17, 2018, the defendant, along with her mother, went to the Central Immigration and Passport Office and applied for a passport with the name of ‘Coretta Hope’, who is her disabled sister.
Brummell noted that the defendant’s mother falsely declared that Unique was Coretta, knowing that she (the defendant) was not.

The prosecutor told the court that more charges were expected to be laid against the defendant as her mother was being sought by the police.
The defendant was released on $100,000 bail with the condition that she lodged all of her passports at the court.

The woman, however, told the court that her last two passports were taken by immigration officers in Barbados but the prosecutor told the court that that was a lie. The matter was adjourned until February 6, 2019.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.