Kaieteur News robbery: Ex-employee confesses; implicates others

…over $6M in stolen cash, gun, ammo recovered

A day after three bandits walked into Kaieteur News at Saffon Street, Georgetown, and carted off with millions of dollars in cash, an ex-employee of Kaieteur News, Ryan Wharton, who was arrested on Monday and further questioned by investigators, has since confessed to being the mastermind behind the armed robbery.

The 33-year-old former research assistant at the entity implicated one of the on-duty security guards, Joshua Junor, 35, in the crime.
Junor was the security officer that was seen in CCTV footage of the robbery, being held at gunpoint and forced into one of the rooms of the Kaieteur News’ office building.
Wharton told investigators that while he used to work with Kaieteur News, in the year 2021, he became friends with Junor, the 35-year-old security guard who is employed with Kaieteur News.
He said after he left the job, he conspired with Junor and told him that they could “thief money” from Kaieteur News and he reportedly agreed.
However, on Sunday last, at about 11:00h, Wharton said Junor went to his home with his motor car, along with another accused, Ivor Belingie, also known as “Wildlife”, a 25-year-old unemployed man of Back Circle, East Ruimveldt, and they made plans to rob Kaieteur News.
Wharton admitted to cops that he asked Belingie if he had a gun and Belingie responded in the negative. He said he then told Belingie that he would provide him with a gun and that they would rob Kaieteur News and they all agreed.
Junor and Wharton then left, after which he called a friend, Harry Stongster, a 36-year-old taxi driver of Hyde Park, Timehri, on his cell phone and told him about the plan to rob Kaieteur News and Harry agreed to go with them.

Police also stated that Wharton said he called his cousin Lemuel Grant of Charlestown and asked him to borrow his Spacio and Grant lent him the vehicle.
Wharton said he proceeded to change the number plate on Grant’s vehicle and replace it with a fake number plate HC 5152. At about 23:00h, Stongster went to his home with a motor car and Wharton gave Harry a phone number for Belingie and told him to call Belingie and pick him up at Back Circle in East Ruimveldt, which Harry did.
Shortly after, Harry returned with Belingie, whom he gave his unlicensed 9mm pistol and they proceeded to Kaieteur News, in the Spacio vehicle which Wharton drove.
On arrival, Belingie held Junor, the security officer and two others at gunpoint, as they had planned, while Wharton and Harry went up to the Accounts Department where he knew the safe was located.
They claimed that they pushed open the office door, and broke off a padlock on a desk drawer. Wharton along with Harry then lifted out the safe which was under a desk and put it in the back seat of Grant’s car. Then, he along with Harry and Belingie drove to his home, where they opened the safe, and removed a large sum of cash, a firearm, ammunition, one holster, magazines, and firearm hand grips.
They then divided the money into four.
Belingie collected Junor’s share on his behalf and the men proceeded to burn the clothes they used to conduct the robbery.
Stongster and “Wildlife” then left Wharton’s home and threw away the empty safe in a trench at Cane View Avenue, South Ruimveldt Gardens.
Wharton then took his share of the loot and handed it over to his child’s mother, a policewoman, for safekeeping and told her that he had won the cash while playing a Superbet game.
Wharton also placed the gun and ammunition removed from the safe along with the gun used in the robbery, firearm grips, and holster into a haversack and gave them to his friend, Collis Heywood, at Tucville.
Since the confession, investigators have arrested all of the suspects that were involved and implicated in the crime, and have since recovered over $6 million of the stolen cash, the stolen pistol and ammunition, the broken safe, and the car used in the robbery.
Investigations are ongoing. (G9)