Vicky stays locked up

NALINEE SEELAL AND STACY MOORE

Recaptured remand prisoner and accused fraudster Vicky Boodram remained in a cell at the Barataria Police Station yesterday.

According to police, Boodram has not yet been interviewed and should be interviewed by today.

Yesterday, when Sunday Newsday visited the Lachoos Road, Penal, home where Boodram was caught hiding, no one was home. However, a few houses away, a relative of the woman distanced himself from the incident and said to speak to him about matters of the bible and, other than that, he did not know about Vicky Boodram.

“I have nothing to say about, who is this Vicky Boodram. If you want, I can invite you to my church, but don’t ask me anything about Vicky Boodram or whoever she is.” When Sunday Newsday attempted to speak with other residents, they said, “No comment,” and shut their doors.

Boodram, 35, from Siparia, is on 175 fraud charges which include money laundering and falsifying documents. On Monday, Boodram left the Women’s Prison located in the Golden Grove Prison compound in Arouca after two police officers showed prison officers a release warrant issued by the Tunapuna Magistrates’ Court commanding that she be released so as to attend “night court.” That document was found to be bogus.

The two police officers, one male and the other female, were detained and interviewed by members of the Professional Standards Bureau where, at first, they said they were merely following the instruction given by a senior officer. The male officer later confessed to planning and executing the escape with Boodram after he had fallen in love with her. The female officer has since been released while the policeman, who hails from Arima, remains in custody and is facing several criminal charges.

The Organised Crime and Intelligence Unit (OCIU) detained Boodram thanks to the Interception of Communications Act, which gives the Commissioner of Police authority to secretly listen in on phone conversations.

Sources revealed Boodram made a call on a Digicel cellular phone hours after she was assisted in escaping from the Women’s Prison at Golden Grove on Monday afternoon. She used it to call a policeman and other people, including someone who was supposed to help smuggle her out of the country late Thursday night.

OCIU officers teamed up with colleagues from the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) led by Col George Robinson after receiving information from the Police Cyber Crime Unit whose officers seized the cellular phone belonging to the policeman. That number led them to Lachoos Road in Penal on Thursday. They began listening in on Boodram’s conversations.

At about 6 pm on Thursday, police went to a bar at Lachoos Road, where they met a 32-year-old woman who runs a Lotto booth. They told her they had information she was harbouring Boodram and asked her to accompany them to the house where Boodram was hiding. The woman co-operated with them and called Boodram, saying she was on her way home and to await her arrival. When police surrounded the unfinished two-storey brick house around 6.40 pm, they found Boodram sitting in a chair on the upper floor. Both Boodram and the Lotto booth operator were taken into custody and put in a cell at the Penal police station.

Police believe Boodram was supposed to leave the house later on Thursday evening to go to Cedros to be smuggled out of the country. A joint team of officers was therefore on standby in Cedros in the event that Boodram was able to elude police in Penal.

Boodram’s escape sparked a flood of comments on social media and also inspired a few comedic memes. Some people expressed disappointment she had been held in Trinidad and not overseas while others made jokes about the police officer who said he had fallen in love with her.