Princes Town man on fraud charge

A man from Princes Town faced a master in the San Fernando High Court on Tuesday, charged with having a fake insurance certificate.

Christopher Sookram pleaded not guilty after the prosecutor requested that the matter be tried summarily.

The case was transferred to the Princes Town Magistrates’ Court and adjourned to April 9.

Sookram was granted $20,000 surety bail.

PC Ramjohn of the Princes Town municipal police station charged him on Monday after examining the insurance certificate for the car that Sookram was driving.

It is alleged that Ramjohn, together with acting Cpl Ali and WPC Hosein, noticed discrepancies with the stamp and signature on the document.

Checks with officials from the company’s name on the document allegedly revealed that the policy number was invalid.

The matter was referred to the High Court. Based on the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act, 2011(as amended), referred to as AJIPAA, which was proclaimed on December 12, 2023, indictable cases go straight to the High Court, which is supposed to help reduce the delays in the district (magistrates) courts.

Meanwhile, Deopersad Durgadeen, 47, was granted $15,000 bail by justice of the peace Ramnarine Mongroo over the weekend, charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

He was arrested in a road traffic exercise co-ordinated by ASP Guzman and led by acting Cpl Ali on March 8 along the Naparima Mayaro Road in Princes Town.

A breathalyser test on Durgadeen showed a reading of 110 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, more than three times the legal limit. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Durgadeen was expected to face a Princes Town magistrate.

From the exercise, the municipal police also held a man from Indian Walk for driving without a permit and insurance certificate.

The officers also issued nine fixed penalty notices and completed ten interview forms.