A 56-year-old man, John Patrick Lewis, was, on Friday, granted $50,000 bail after being charged by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) with conspiracy to defraud.
The Corentyne, Berbice resident appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate Leron Daly and pleaded not guilty to the charge.

He was represented by attorney-at-law Euclin Gomes, while SOCU was represented by its in-house attorney, Tuanna Hardy.
According to a press release, reports received by SOCU stated that Lewis, who is a carpenter, received $146,500 from a woman with the understanding that she will receive a money laundering certificate to clear the expensive package that was sent by her Facebook boyfriend.

It is being alleged that the accused acted as a third party for the person who befriended the victim via the Facebook connection.
Lewis is said to be one of four persons the victim sent money to. SOCU is currently looking for the other three.

The victim claimed that she sent the money to Lewis after she was instructed to do so by her Facebook boyfriend, who provided her with all of Lewis’ personal information.
She sent the money using the Western Union money transfer and has never received any package and her Facebook boyfriend has disappeared.

After the matter was investigated by SOCU, Lewis was arrested and charged.
On Tuesday last, SOCU instituted similar charges against Jaffon Hinds of Grove, East Bank Demerara. The Head of SOCU, Assistant Commissioner Fizal Karimbaksh, is calling on all Guyanese to be vigilant against the package delivery and romance scams.

The case will be heard again on September 2, 2022.