THREE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) employees and a police constable were on Monday hauled before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly, accused of forging a driver’s licence for a minibus conductor.

Reguel Jack, of Unity Place, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown; Akeem Martin, of Old Road, Den Amstel; Ruth Williams of Sera Lodge, Stewartville, West Coast Demerara; and Police Special Constable Winston Small, of Avocado Place, East Ruimveldt, Georgetown, appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where they were charged by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) with computer-related forgery.

Martin and Williams were charged jointly, while Jack and Small were charged separately.

They all pleaded not guilty, and were granted bail in the sum of $100,000 each. The matter was adjourned until August 29, and transferred to Magistrate Annette Singh for trial.

According to a release from SOCU, an investigation revealed that during the month of October 2021, Small made arrangements with minibus conductor, Shaquan Caesar to procure a driver’s licence for him at a cost of G$83,000 from GRA.

Small reportedly indicated to Caesar that he can use the driver’s licence of the minibus driver, Antoney Jacobs and he will get someone to change the photograph.

“Caesar managed to get a photograph of Antoney’s licence and on November 1, 2021, they both went to a clerk at Maraj building and told her that Caesar is Antoney Salaman Jacobs and that he lost his driver’s licence and identification card and is requesting an affidavit to take to GRA to process his driver’s licence. The clerk drafted the affidavit in favour of Antoney Salamon upon Caesar’s instruction and took it to a Justice of Peace who did not question but signed it,” the release said.

It is alleged that on November 1, 2021, Small took Caesar to GRA with the affidavit where Jack, a lodgement clerk at GRA took Caesar’s photograph via the Licence Revenue Processing System (LRPS) and processed a driver’s licence for him in the name of ‘Antoney Jacobs’ with Jacobs’s driver’s licence details. The driver’s licence was then issued to Caesar but he lost it two weeks after.

“On 16th December, 2021, Small and Caesar again obtained another affidavit and went to GRA. Akeem Martin, another lodgement clerk at GRA, who took Caesar’s photograph via the LRPS and placed it onto ‘Antoney Salaman Jacobs’s licence. He did the transaction without any form of identification. The licence was keyed by Ruth Williams, the query clerk who certified that the transaction was authentic despite irregularities with the identification details and affidavit,” the release said.

Caesar was issued with another driver’s licence but he was arrested by police on January 25, 2022, for a breach of a traffic offence. The arresting rank, who was acquainted with the identity of Jacobs, questioned Caesar about the forged licence.

Caesar allegedly admitted that he paid money to get the bogus licence. Caesar was subsequently charged with forgery and uttering forged documents. He pleaded guilty and paid a fine, the release added.