Although one person has already been charged in relation to the impersonation of First Lady Sandra Granger, she has related that she has now reached the point where she is frustrated and angry.
Granger’s comment on the issue comes at a time where only recently a video surfaced on social media, which indicated that although someone has already been charged for impersonating her, the issue continues.
“I have already reported it to the Police. The Police carried out one investigation where a guy was found guilty and this continues because people are gullible,” the First Lady said on Wednesday.
According to her, several press statements were issued in relation to the matter and even social media posts to say she is not offering lands or scholarships to persons.
“I don’t know what else I can do but I can just say if you know somebody (is calling you to tell you these things) just publish the phone number so that the people will understand that you are on to them,” she added.
The wife of the Head of State David Granger, pointed out that a number of persons
First Lady Sandra Granger
have already turned up at her office, as they were told to do so by the impersonator for interviews.
In April of this year, several men were charged for the offence.
Two men, who were each jailed for the offence of murder and are incarcerated at the Mazaruni prison, were on Friday charged for impersonating First Lady Sandra Granger.
Also charged for obtaining money by false pretence, the men appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The men are Paul Lo-Hing, serving 83 years in jail for the murder of his girlfriend Shoala Gilgeous in 2012; and 30-year-old Wazim Mohammed, currently serving a 10-year jail sentence for the murder of his friend Russell Nelson, 62, of Fyrish, Corentyne, Berbice on September 27, 2005. They pleaded not guilty to the charges read to them.
It is alleged that between April 1 and April 30, 2017, Lo-Hing obtained $30,000 in phone cards from Basmattie Singh under the pretence of being First Lady Sandra Granger and being in a position to grant a scholarship.
Mohammed also obtained $30,000 in phone cards from Beverly Harris during April 2017 at Mahdia by pretending he was the First Lady, and reportedly promising to offer Harris a scholarship if given the money.
Also, back in December last year, a man who was identified as Mohammed Ali returned to face Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, before whom he claimed to be suffering from a mental illness for which he is undergoing treatment at the “Berbice mad house”.
Ali has been convicted on several fraud and simple larceny charges, and was serving time at the New Amsterdam Prison when the allegations were made. Between April 1 and April 30, 2017, by falsely pretending to be the First Lady and being in a position to offer scholarships to his victims, he allegedly obtained 12 pennyweight of gold (valued at $139,000) from Beverly Harris at Mahaica, East Coast Demerara; $30,000 worth of phone cards from a person at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo; and $30,000 in cash from another victim. These transactions were reportedly executed over the telephone.
The accused had initially denied the charges laid against him. However, he admitted to inducing several persons to send sums of money to his phone, but not to the extent to which he was charged. In what seemed to be an acceptance of fate, the accused then expressed his desire to meet the First Lady as he faced the possibly of a lengthy penalty sentence.
