$350,000 bail for rape-accused pharmacist, employee remanded in custody

UPDATED - Nov 7th, 3:12 pm:

Reporting by Shane Superville

A 66-year-old Bayshore pharmacist was granted bail of $350,000 for the alleged rape of two women whom he employed earlier this year.

Ramnath Ramdhan and his 27-year-old employee Akeem Worrell appeared before Magistrate Adia Mohammed in the Port of Spain Magistrate’s Seventh court yesterday.

Ramdhan and Worrell were jointly charged with three counts of rape, while Ramdhan was charged with two counts of grievous sexual assault and assault with a knife.

The charges were laid indictably and the pair were not called upon to enter a plea.

Ramdhan’s attorney Matthew Gayle succeeded in securing bail for his client. Mohammed granted bail on the condition that Ramdhan remain at least 500 feet away from both complainants and make no attempt to contact them. Worrell was remanded into custody, as he is accused of a number of similar offences in the Chaguanas area.

Both men are expected to reappear in court on December 5.

Ramdhan was arrested at his home on Sunday by Cpl Pierre of the Port of Spain CID after one of the women reported to police she was raped and forced to perform other sexual acts.

ORIGINAL STORY:

A pharmacy owner, who allegedly placed advertisements in newspapers to lure women into a trap for sex crimes to be committed against them, has been arrested on a warrant at his posh Bayshore home on Sunday afternoon.

The 66-year-old businessman, who operates a pharmacy in Port of Spain, was taken to the Port of Spain CID and placed in a cell with his 28-year-old alleged accomplice.

The alleged accomplice, who is from Morvant, was detained on Friday night and gave a statement in which he accused the businessman of being the mastermind behind the sex assaults.

He also told police, although he and the businessman were detained after reports were made by two women, there were others who appeared to have not made any reports to police.

The first woman, who is in her 20s from Diego Martin, reported to police that after seeing an ad in the newspaper for a job in the pharmacy, she arranged to be interviewed there on September 12, 2014. She said, while being interviewed, the second suspect from Morvant entered the room with a gun and robbed her of a cell phone and other valuables.

The gunman then told her he had a fetish for seeing people having sex and forced her to have sex with the businessman.

The woman said she was raped, sodomised and forced to do other acts. She said she did not know that it was a plan hatched by the businessman when she first reported the matter to Cpl Pierre of the Port of Spain CID.

The second victim, who was 42 at the time, also responded to a newspaper ad on August 13, 2015 and, while being interviewed at the pharmacy, she too was accosted by the second suspect who ordered her to have sex with the pharmacy owner at gunpoint.

She told police she was robbed at gunpoint and sexually assaulted. Sources revealed the women and the businessman were interviewed.

It is alleged he corroborated the what was reported by the women and expressed disgust over the incidents. He is said to have urged the police to find the perpetrator.

Investigators were unable to retrieve any camera surveillance footage from the pharmacy because there was none at the time. A source revealed, police made their breakthrough when they detained a man with a stolen phone and the phone was traced to one of the women. The man told police he had purchased it from the alleged gunman referred to by the women.

Yesterday the Office of the DPP gave instructions for the pharmacy owner and his alleged accomplice to each be charged with four offences including rape, buggery, grievous sexual assault and robbery with aggravation.

The pharmacy was open for business yesterday despite the arrest of the owner.

Newsday contacted a manager there who confirmed the owner was not at work but could not say when he would be back. She said she was not aware the owner had been detained for rape and other serious offences.

Yesterday ACP Irwin Hackshaw advised women who respond to advertisements for employment to take the necessary precautions. He said there had been several instances where women left their homes to attend interviews and disappeared, while others were victims of sexual abuse.

Hackshaw advised people who respond to job advertisements to ask someone to accompany them. He commended the police for making a breakthrough in this matter.