TAXI DRIVER Dequan King, was, on Monday, sentenced to two and a half years in prison for the multimillion-dollar gold and money heist, which occurred last year at Wallison Enterprise, on Gordon Street, Kitty.

King, of D’ Field, Sophia, Georgetown, was sentenced by Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. He had pleaded guilty to the crime last month.

King had 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 had also confessed to 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.

On Monday, Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus sentenced King to two and a half years on each count. The sentences will run concurrently, which means King will only serve two and a half years in jail.

King was arrested in October after spending the last year on the run from police. He was nabbed by the authorities in Suriname and deported to Guyana.

Former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Sergeant, Keyon King, and two of the company’s security officers, Delroy Jackson called “Bug” and Peon Lee called “Nino Brown”, were charged with the robbery in August 2021.

King pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to serve three years in prison, while Jackson and Lee pleaded not guilty to the charges and were later released on $450,000 bail.

Crime Chief, Senior Superintendent Wendell Blanhum, had told reporters 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 the robbery was executed, reportedly confessed that it should have gone down on August 4, 2021, but because the owner’s family was there, it was done the following day instead.

DaSilva, a 45-year-old goldsmith, and Carmichael, a 20-year-old cashier, were at the business when the bandits entered at 10:05 hours.

It is alleged that they had come in a white car driven by King, which they parked on the northern side of the building before entering the compound through the main gate.

They were reportedly granted access into the building by a security guard after they indicated their intent 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, 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 following the discovery of a total of $18M buried at Keyon King’s residence.