A CON artist will have the next three years behind bars to hone his skills. He was jailed on Thursday by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, for swindling monies from three persons in a vehicle scam.

Jermain Fraser, 27, of Lamaha Street, was slapped with four counts of obtaining money by false pretense but only pleaded guilty to the first three charges.

The first charge alleged that on April 26, 2018 at Georgetown with intent to defraud, Fraser obtained the sum of $400,000 from Baldeo Puran by falsely pretending that he was in position to acquire a 212 Toyota motor car, knowing same to be false.
The court was told that on the day in question, Puran met the accused at the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) which had the 212 motor cars for sale. The victim handed over the money to process the registration for the car. The accused then went into the GRA building and never returned.

The second charge alleged that on May 4, 2018 at Laparkan, Lombard Street, with intent to defraud, Fraser obtained the sum of $300,000 from Ashmi Singh by falsely pretending that he was in position to acquire a vehicle, knowing same to be false.

According to reports, Singh met with Fraser who had claimed, via a post on Facebook, that he had imported a vehicle for sale. The victim made arrangements and met Fraser at Laparkan on Lombard Street where he handed over $300,000 as down payment for the vehicle. Fraser then went into an office at Laparkan and came out minutes later. He walked past the victim and out of the office. The victim give chase but the accused jumped on a waiting motorcycle and disappeared.

The third charge read that on June 29, 2018 at Charlotte Street, Georgetown, with intent to defraud, Fraser obtained the sum of $200,000 from Floyd LaFleur by falsely pretending that he was in position to acquire a mini bus, knowing same to be false.
The court was told that on the day in question LaFleur met with Fraser at the High Court and handed over $200,000 as down payment. Fraser then went into the High Court and never returned.

Fraser pleaded guilty to the three charges and did not give the court a reason for his actions. He was sentenced to three years’ jail on each count, which will run concurrently.
The unrepresented man however denied the court charge which alleged that on July 31, 2018 at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, Fraser obtained the sum of $1.4 from Gewan Persaud by falsely pretending that he was in position to acquire a Toyota Primo motor car, knowing same to be false.

Fraser told the court that he only obtained $175,000 from Persaud and did not know about the $1.4M. He was remanded to prison until August 31 on that charge.