3 vendors charged for $22M jewellery heist

Stabroek Market robbery

Three men were on Friday morning remanded to prison by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan for breaking and entering the L Seepersaud Maraj & Sons jewellery store in the Stabroek Market and stealing $22 million worth of gold and diamond jewellery.
Tyron Marks, 31, of Lot 107 Eccles, East Bank Demerara; Clifford Rodney, 66, of Lot 265 One Mile, Linden; Albert Defreitas, 54, of Leopold Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown were not required to plead to the indictable charge.
According to the prosecution’s case, between July 2 and July 3, 2018, the men who are also vendors in the Stabroek Market broke and entered the jewellery store.
The men were represented by Attorneys Pamela DeSantos, Kezia Williams and Adrian Thompson respectively.
The three Attorneys, in their bail applications, informed the court that their clients were beaten by Police to confess to the theft.
Police Prosecutor Neville Jeffers objected to bail and informed the court that the men all have pending matters of similar nature before the courts while citing the serious nature of the offence and the value of the items.
The court was told that during a video interrogation with investigators, two of the men admitted to cutting into the store’s safe to gain access to the items.
The men were remanded to prison. The case will continue on July 23, 2017.
Reports are on July 3 when the owners and employees of the jewellery store arrived at the Market, they realised the stall was broken into. Upon checking, they discovered that the entire store was ransacked and the vault was torched open.
In a press statement, the owners had said that the robbery was the work of “highly-skilled thieves”.
According to the owners, they had consulted with several security specialists and others trained in ironwork and welding, and were informed that it would have taken no less than five hours for the vaults to be cut open. It was further revealed that the owners had spoken to two City Constables, who claimed that checks were done earlier in the Market, but nothing was discovered.
Additionally, the stall was secured with an alarm system that was being monitored by the MMC Security Force.
“We contacted the MMC Security Force late this afternoon and we were informed that the alarm was indeed set off three times last night. However, MMC never informed us or the Police that the alarms went off. On every other occasion, whenever the alarm is set off, MMC would call us immediately and the fact that we never received any calls or reports from them is puzzling,” the owners had said in the release.
Meanwhile, Crime Chief Paul Williams headed a team to the scene, who were able to collect fingerprints from one of the heavy-duty safes in which the jewellery was secured.
The robbery has yet again raised concerns about security at the Market. Police thought it was quite strange that no one heard any abnormal noises or saw any abnormal movements since a robbery of that magnitude could take a few hours. It was later disclosed that the City Constabulary Officers have access to the Market at all times through the southern gate.
Only recently, the City Constabulary named Stabroek and Bourda Markets as popular criminal hotspots where consumers are attacked and robbed on a daily basis. These offences are suspected to be gang-related.
Chief Constable Andrew Foo has stated that the Markets have been on their radar for quite a while now in light of the increase in criminal activities there.
Foo explained that at the Stabroek Market, since it is a transportation hub, persons entering and leaving public transportation are the main targets. With respect to Bourda Market, most of the incidents occur among vendors and shoppers in the rush hours, when sales are at a peak.