– Magistrate dismisses forgery charge
GEORGETOWN Magistrate Sue Ann Lovell, on Wednesday, found 59-year-old Gangadee Reuben not guilty on a charge of conspiracy to commit a felony.
Accepting a no-case submission by defence counsel Mr. Jainarayan Singh, the magistrate found that there was no evidence to support the allegation that Gangadee had forged the Will of her sister Ramdai Latchman, who died on August 25, 2008. The Prosecution had led six witnesses in support of its case.
The Registry Officer Simone Jubiter, gave evidence that, on October 10 last year, she was presented with documents including the original Will of Ramdai Latchman and a testamentary deposit from which included tax documents, a transport evaluation on the said property and a Power of Attorney given by the main executor in the same will to the accused.
It was alleged by the police, firstly, that the Will was not signed by the deceased and was signed by the accused and/or by her servants or agents.
One of the witnesses to the alleged forgery of the Will was Patrick Bowman, an Orthopedic technician employed at the West Demerara Hospital.
In his evidence, he said an old lady who was a patient had asked him, in 2008, to sign as a witness to her Will. He did so.
Under further cross-examination, he said that the first time he saw the accused was in Court on that day.
The son of the deceased, Naipaul Latchman, gave evidence and said that his mother had been living at the accused home after she had sold her property which was on the eastern half of Lot 23, New Anglet, West Bank Demerara.
He also said his mother had never told him during her life time that she had made a Will.
Under cross-examination by counsel, the son admitted that he had spent very little time with his mother  during her lifetime, as he was working at various places  in the interior. He also admitted that after his mother had sold the property, she had given him $200,000 and told him he had nothing more to get.
Police Constable Aubrey Wilson, of Brickdam Police Station, said it was Naipaul Latchman who gave the information that he suspected the accused of forgery. The accused told him that Ramdai Latchman was her sister  who, after selling the  house,  came to live with her, and had told her that she had made a Will.
Reuben also said that, on the Will which she discovered after the death of her sister, she had given all her property to her nephew who was living in Holland, and who had sent her a Power of Attorney to obtain probate of the estate of the deceased sister. The accused woman said she was in the process of doing this when she was arrested by the police.
At the close of the prosecution’s case, counsel submitted  that there was no evidence that the accused acted  in any manner which negated any dishonesty on her part and, secondly, there was no evidence that she conspired with any person to commit a felony.
The prosecution submitted that it was very unlikely that the deceased, Ramdai Latchman, who was the mother of four sons, would not leave them as beneficiaries in the Will. Counsel replied that the only evidence from any of the persons mentioned by the prosecution came from the son Michael Latchman, who said he had neglected his mother during her lifetime.
Counsel pointed out that there is no evidence  before the court that her remaining sons did not fall under the same category.
On the 27th of April, Magistrate Sue Ann Lovell upheld the submissions by counsel and  dismissed the action by the Prosecution.