ATTORNEY-AT-LAW Sanjeev Datadin on Monday made a no-case submission in favour of his clients; former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Presidency, Omar Shariff and his reputed wife, Savatri Hardeo, who are jointly charged for failing to comply with a production order contrary to Section 26 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The couple is on trial before Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore, for failing to comply with the production order issued by Chief Justice, Yonette Cummings-Edwards, after a summons was served by the High Court to produce certain named documents to Assistant Police Commissioner, Sydney James within seven days.

The attorney called for the charge to be dismissed against his clients on the grounds that the Magistrate Court does not have the power to hear the matter and Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) prosecutor, Patrice Henry failed to present sufficient evidence in the case.

The matter is adjourned until October 23 for prosecutor Henry to reply to the no-case submission.

Shariff is currently out on $1M bail while Hardeo is on self-bail. Omar Shariff was fired from the post of Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Presidency. The ministry said his services have been terminated with effect December 31, 2016.

Shariff, the subject of a probe into alleged financial crimes by SOCU, has denied such allegations but conceded that he has unsettled tax matters with the Guyana Revenue Authority in relation to the sale of phone credit.