— Hanoman reacts to move by Hughes to have charges against Lowenfield withdrawn

PROMINENT Attorney-at-law, Glen Hanoman, has said that the action of Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, to have his attorney write the Director of Public Prosecution, Shalimar Ali-Hack, to have all of the criminal charges withdrawn, is a cry for public attention.

On Monday, August 10, 2020, Lowenfield’s attorney, Nigel Hughes, wrote to the DPP requesting that the three criminal charges of alleged fraud and misconduct against his client be withdrawn. The DPP has not issued a reply.

In a comment given to this publication, on Monday, Hughes explained that he does not believe that the private prosecutor attached to the case has sufficient evidence against his client.

The attorney is hopeful that the DPP will take a similar course, as she did last week, when she exercised her legal powers and discontinued the private criminal charges, for alleged malfeasance in public office, filed against Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh.

The private prosecutor, Glen Hanoman, described the move by Lowenfield and his attorney as a “public gimmick.”

Hanoman stressed that there was a lot of evidence against Lowenfield but statements have not yet been filed.

Additionally, Hanoman also argued that the defence has not had the chance to peruse the statements in the case, but was calling for it to be dropped by the DPP.

In July, Lowenfield appeared before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to answer to three private criminal charges brought against him for alleged fraud and misconduct.

He was not required to plead to the charges and was released on $450,000 bail and is expected to appear in court on August 14, 2020.

The charges in question were filed by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) member, Desmond Morian, and by general secretary of The New Movement (TNM), Daniel Kanhai, on June 30, 2020.

In his private criminal charge, Kanhai is alleging that Lowenfield, between March 5 and June 23, 2020, at Georgetown, in the Georgetown Magisterial District, County of Demerara, State of Guyana, conspired with person(s) unknown to commit the common law offence of fraud, to wit, by representing to the Guyana Elections Commission, that tables attached to his Election Report dated June 23, 2020, accurately reflected the true results of the said election, in order to materially alter the results of the said election, with intent to defraud, knowing the said tabulation to be false.

Morian is also alleging that Lowenfield, between March 5, 2020, and June 29, 2020, while performing his duty as the Chief Elections Officer of GECOM, without lawful excuse or justification, wilfully misconducted himself at Georgetown, a county of Demerara, State of Guyana, a place within the Georgetown Magisterial District by ascertaining results of the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections for Guyana, knowing the said results to be false, the said wilful misconduct amounting to a breach of the public’s trust in the Office of the Chief Elections Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission.

The second charge which was filed by Morian against Lowenfield claimed that he allegedly conspired with Region Four District Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, to alter results that had been declared in March for that district.