A REPUTED husband and wife were on Monday released on $25,000 bail each by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan after being charged with fraud.John Freeman, 47, and Cleya France, both of Middle Road, La Penitence, Georgetown, were charged jointly with obtaining a quantity of greens valued at $543,000 from Baldeo Jodia with intent to defraud him by falsely pretending that they would have paid him three times the amount, knowing this claim to be false.

The duo denied the charge, while their lawyer Clyde Forde urged the court to grant his clients reasonable bail, since the two were the parents of six minor children.

The lawyer further pointed out that his clients operate a transport service, and would normally take goods into Port Kaituma.

“The defendants had an agreement to take the greens into the Port Kaituma area. However, the truck had engine problems and was stuck on the trail, which caused the produce to spoil,” Forde told the court.

Police Prosecutor Inspector Neville Jeffers made no objection to bail, but pointed out that, when arrested, Freeman admitted that he had sold the produce and taken the money.

Magistrate McLennan has ordered the accused to return to court on October 25.