Friendship man charged for fraud

Twenty-four-year-old Patrick Watts appeared before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, accompanied by his lawyer, to answer to a charge of fraudulent conversion on Monday.
The father of two, of Friendship Village, East Bank Demerara (EBD), opted to have his case heard summarily at the Magistrates’ Courts, and pleaded not guilty to the charge which read that between August 24, 2017 and September 11, 2017, at Durban Street, Georgetown, whilst being a bailee of one Toyota minibus valued at .1 million, property of Elvis Smith, he fraudulently converted same to his own use and benefit.
The defendant’s lawyer argued that Watts was a first-time offender, posing no flight risk and requested reasonable bail in the circumstances.
Police Prosecutor Shawn Gonsalves relayed the facts which revealed that the Virtual Complainant (VC) had entrusted to the accused the said vehicle to operate and keep at the cost of 00 per week. According to Gonsalves, the defendant had stopped making payments after some time and the VC’s efforts to contact him via phone calls, hereafter, proved futile.
The court was informed that Smith reported the incident to the Police who traced the bus to Timehri, EBD, where it was discovered to have been stripped of some of its parts.
Investigations revealed that the defendant had sold the bus to a third party for some 0,000, a fact to which he admitted in a caution statement, according to Police.
The accused was placed on 0,000 bail pending the outcome of the trial, which is expected to commence on October 16, 2017.