Berbice man guilty of $10M flour theft, $3M embezzlement

A 13-year-old case involving millions of dollars in financial crimes ended on Thursday when Hemraj Singh Pahalad was found guilty of embezzlement and larceny by a jury at the Berbice High Court, while being acquitted on a separate embezzlement charge.

The presiding judge, Justice Deborah Kumar-Chetty, immediately revoked the accused’s $1.5 million bail and remanded him to prison pending sentencing.
The case, which dates back to 2013, was heard before a 12-member jury, with the trial concluding on Thursday after the State closed its case and the defence responded.
Pahalad had faced three indictments arising from the 2013 incidents. On the first count, he was accused of embezzling $3,529,750 between February 12 and 16, 2013; however, he was found not guilty on that charge. On the second count, he was accused of embezzling $3,071,500 between February 13 and 16, 2013, monies said to have been received on behalf of his employer, and was found guilty. On the third count, he was charged with larceny of flour valued at $10,127,995, including 200 bags of 100-pound Thunderbolt flour, 515 two-kilogram bags, 311 one-kilogram bags, three bags of high-fibre flour, and 22 bags of self-rising flour; he was also found guilty on that charge.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict, finding Pahalad not guilty on the first count of embezzlement but guilty on the second count of embezzlement and the third count of larceny.
Following the verdict, the court set April 30 for sentencing. The judge ordered that a probation report and a victim impact report be prepared, while both the prosecution and defence were directed to file written submissions outlining aggravating and mitigating factors by April 21, when the reports are also expected to be submitted.
The State was represented by prosecutors while the accused was represented by attorneys Sasha Roberts and Charlyn Artiga.