A technician, who is the owner of a computer store, was released on $75,000 bail after being accused of defrauding a lawyer.
Forty-one-year-old, Rawle Welchman of 306 Crane, West Coast Demerara, appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that during the month of August 2016, at Hadfield Street, Georgetown, he, being solely entrusted by Gordon Gilhuys with the sum of $209,000, in order that he will purchase and install CCTV cameras, he fraudulently converted same to his own use and benefit.
Facts presented by Police Prosecutor Sanj Singh stated that during the period mentioned in the charge, the lawyer hired the defendant to install several CCTV cameras around his home and he handed over the money to him.
However, within three months, the cameras stopped working and the defendant told the victim that he had ordered more cameras and was awaiting the shipment.
However, after months elapsed, the lawyer was unable to make contact with the defendant and the matter was reported to the police.
The defendant was later arrested and while
the matter was being investigated by the police, the defendant was told to report to the station every week.
The defendant then reported to the station a few times and then vanished. It was only recently that he was rearrested and charged for the offence.
The Prosecutor objected to bail being granted to the defendant on the grounds that he is a flight risk.
However, the man’s lawyer in a successful bail application, told the court that her client did order the new shipment of cameras but the shipment got lost during the hurricane seasons.
In relation to her client not reporting to the station, the lawyer told the court that her client went to the station on several occasions.
The Magistrate, after listening to both sides, released Welchman on $75,000 bail. Condition of the bail is that he report every Monday to the Brickdam Police Station until the hearing and determination of the trial.
The father of two was instructed to make his next court appearance on February 7, 2020.
