Businessman freed of fraud charges

A CENTRAL businessman who was accused of defrauding a local distribution company has been freed of three charges of obtaining credit by fraud.

McKenzy Dukhedin, of Southern Main Road, Cunupia, was before senior Magistrate Christine Charles in the Port of Spain First Court.

Yesterday, she ruled agreed with the businessman’s lawyer Chase Pegus that the prosecution failed to make out the essential element of the offence of obtaining credit by fraud.

It was alleged that Dukhedin on June 7, 14 and 17, 2013, incurred a debt at Hadco Limited by fraud, other than false pretences.

According to the facts of the case presented, it was alleged that Dukhedin bought a quantity of goods from Hadco, totalling $.4 million, and wrote three cheques to the distributor. The cheques were deposited and were allegedly returned dishonoured. A report was made to the police and the businessman was charged with the three offences.

The case before Charles began on May 14, 2015, as a preliminary inquiry. However, in 2017, after Dukhedin spent more than a year on remand because he was unable to access bail, it was converted to a summary trial by the magistrate in accordance with provisions of the Summary Courts Act.

The application for the conversion was made by Pegus, who pointed out that the maximum penalty for each charge was one-year imprisonment.