Laventille three charged for downpayment scam

Three Laventille men were granted bail when they appeared before a Port of Spain magistrate to face 16 charges of uttering forged documents and larceny on Tuesday.

Police said the men, aged 34, 37 and 46, were part of a racket in which they would advertise items for sale on social media and encourage customers to make downpayments or full payments without delivering the goods.

Investigators said in one case a woman paid $15,000 as a downpayment for a car but did not receive it.

In other cases the men robbed the customers when they met them with the money.

Police from the Central Police Station arrested one of the men last Monday and the other two were held on Saturday.

Police said the 46-year-old man was charged with eight counts of uttering a forged documents.

He and the 37-year-old were jointly charged with four counts of larceny.

The 34- and the 37-year-old were jointly charged with one count of larceny and the 46-year-old with three counts of larceny.

The 46-year-old was granted $150,000 bail with surety and is expected to return to court on April 6.

The 34- and 37-year-olds were granted $40,000 and $20,000 bail with sureties respectively and are expected to return to court on March 28.

Police from the Port of Spain Division are calling on the public to be cautious when making payments to strangers and to do enough background checks to verify the legitimacy of retailers before buying anything.