A duo, who was on Thursday charged for supplying and uttering forged identification documents, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Twenty-eight-year-old Benvolio Valenski, also known, as Roy Anthony Sewnarine of Better Hope, East Coast Demerara and 38-year-old Ganesh Singh of Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, appeared before Magistrate Clive Nurse and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The first charge stated that between February 1, 2019 and September 2, 2019, at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, Singh conspired with Valenski to forge one Republic of Guyana Driver’s Licence in favour of Roy Anthony, purporting to show that same was issued by the Guyana Revenue Authority.
The second charge stated that between February 1, 2019 and September 2, 2019, at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, Singh conspired with Valenski to forge one Guyana National Identification Card in favour of Roy Anthony Sewnarine, purporting to show that same was issued by the Guyana Elections Commission.
It was further alleged that on September 2, 2019, at Central Immigration and Passport Office, Camp Street, Georgetown, with intent to defraud, Valenski uttered to an Immigration Officer one forged Guyana national identification card #101263701 in favour of himself, purporting to show that same was issued by the Guyana Election Commission, knowing same to be false.
The last charge stated that on September 2, 2019, at Central Immigration and Passport Office, Georgetown, for the purpose of procuring a new passport, Valenski made a false statement, that is to say, he signed a written declaration that he was Roy Anthony, knowing same to be false.
They were both represented by Attorney-at-law Adrian Thompson who asked that his clients be released on reasonable bail. According to information, the men are known to each other.
Valenski, who resides in the United States of America, returned to Guyana in January 2019 and made contact with Singh and allegedly told him that he needed a birth certificate, identification card and a driver’s licence.
The duo made arrangements where Valenski paid Singh a large sum of money to provide the documents, which resulted with Singh handing over the forged documents to Valenski a few days later.
On September 2, 2019, Valenski went to the Central Immigration Office where he used the forged documents to apply for a passport; however, the documents were examined by Immigration Officers and were found to be forged. He was subsequently taken into Police custody.
Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield had no objections to bail being granted to the defendants but he asked that conditions be applied.
The Magistrate, after listening to the facts, released both men on $300,000 bail each and instructed both men to lodge their passports with the court and report every Friday at Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters.
The construction workers are slated to make their next court appearance on September 11, when they will appear before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan for reassignment.
