TWO months after being charged, former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Sergeant, Keyon King, on Friday, pleaded guilty to the multimillion-dollar gold and money heist which occurred at Wallison Enterprise, on Gordon Street, Kitty.

King, 32, of Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo, and two of Wallison’s security officers, Delroy Jackson, called “Bug”, 36, of Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara; and Peon Lee, called “Nino Brown”, 35, of Mocha, East Bank Demerara, were, on August 10, remanded to prison on four counts of robbery.

During his first court appearance before Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court,  King had pleaded guilty to the robbery charges, but later returned to court and changed his plea.

King, who was unrepresented at the time, told the Magistrate that he was confused as to what to say when the charges were formally read to him. The Magistrate accepted his “not guilty” plea, though not necessarily his claim that he had no prior knowledge of the robbery.

However, on Friday, during another appearance before Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, King opted to plead guilty to the charges.

King admitted that on August 5, while being armed with guns, and in the company of others, he robbed Wallison Enterprise of $38 million in local currency, and $20 million worth of raw gold, property of Francis Santos Lumes.

He also confessed to three other charges, for allegedly relieving, at gunpoint, Fernanda Carmichael of a cell-phone worth $350,000; Francis Santos Lumes of gold jewellery and cash amounting to $224,000; and William Batista DaSilva of a cell-phone valued $60,000.

His attorney, Latoya Roberts, asked the court for a probation report to be prepared for her client before sentencing.

The Magistrate granted the attorney’s request and deferred sentencing until November 11.

Meanwhile, King along with his co-accused will remain on remand.

Crime Chief,  Senior Superintendent Wendell Blanhum, had told reporters that the police are searching for others who it is suspected were involved in the robbery.

He explained that the plan was hatched by Lee, who at the time was the company’s Chief of Security. Jackson, a security officer on duty at the time it was executed, reportedly confessed that it should have gone down on Wednesday, August 4, but because the owner’s family was there, it was done the following day instead.

At the time of the robbery, DaSilva, a 45-year-old goldsmith, and Carmicheal, a 20-year-old cashier, were at work at Wallison Enterprise when the bandits entered at 10:05 hours.

It is alleged that they’d come with a white car, which they parked on the northern side of the building, and entered the compound through the main gate. They were reportedly granted access into the building by a security guard, on the pretext that they were there to sell gold.

Once in the establishment’s waiting area, they reportedly told the cashier that the small package they were carrying contained the gold they’d come to sell, and after they would have gained her confidence, they whipped out their firearms from their pants waist, and, at gunpoint, ushered her into an inner office where the goldsmith and another man were conducting some business.

Holding both men at gunpoint, the bandits reportedly ordered the goldsmith to open the two metal safes in the office, before handcuffing them, and, confiscating their cell-phones. They later made good their escape with the $38 million in cash and 60 ounces of raw gold valued at $20 million.

By the time the cashier raised the alarm, and the security guard on duty realised what had transpired, the bandits were long gone. The entire incident was caught on CCTV cameras located inside the business premises.

Police made a major breakthrough in the investigation with the recovery of a total of $18M found buried at King’s residence.