Two construction workers were this morning slapped with charges in relation to supplying and uttering forged identification documents.
Twenty-eight-year-old Benvolio Valenski, also known, as Roy Anthony Sewnarine of Betterhope, East Coast Demerara and 38-year-old Ganesh Singh of Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, appeared before Magistrate Clive Nurse in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Courts.
The first charge stated that between February 1, 2019 and September 2, 2019, at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, Singh conspired with Valenski, to forge one Republic of Guyana Driver’s License in favor of Roy Anthony, purporting to show that same was issued by the Guyana Revenue Authority.
The second charge states that between February 1, 2019 and September 2, 2019, at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, Singh conspired with Valenski to forge one Guyana National Identification Card in favor of Roy Anthony Sewnarine, purporting to show that same was issued by the Guyana Elections Commission.
It was further alleged that on September 2, 2019, at Central Immigration and Passport Office, Camp Street, Georgetown, with intent to defraud, Valenski uttered to Woman Police Constable 21691, an Immigration Officer, one forged Guyana National Identification card #101263701 in favor of himself, purporting to show that same was issued by the Guyana Election Commission, knowing same to be forged.
The last charge stated that on September 2, 2019, at Central Immigration and Passport Office, Georgetown, for the purpose of procuring a new passport, Valenski made a false statement, that is to say, he signed a written declaration, that he was Roy Anthony, knowing same to be false.
Both men denied all the charges after they were read to them by the Magistrate.
They were both represented by Attorney-at-law Adrian Thompson who asked that his clients be released on reasonable bail.
According to information, the men are known to each other. Valenski, who resides in the United States of America, recently returned to Guyana in January 2019 and made contact with Singh.
It was reported that Valenski told Singh he needed a birth certificate, identification card and a driver’s license. The two then made arrangements which resulted in Valenski paying Singh a large sum of cash to provide the documents.
A few days later, Singh handed over the forged documents to Valenski. On September 2, 2019, Valenski went to the Central Immigration Office where he used the said documents to apply for a passport. The documents were then examined and found to be forged. He was then taken into police custody.
While Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield had no objections to bail being granted to the defendants, he asked that conditions be applied.
The Magistrate, after listening to the facts, released both men on $300,000 bail each.
Conditions of the bail are that they lodge their passports with the court and report every Friday to the officer in charge at Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarter, Eve Leary.
Both men were instructed to make their next court appearance on September 11, when they will appear before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan for reassignment.
