Minibus driver charged over alleged housing scam

A 25-year-old minibus driver has been charged with two counts of obtaining by false pretence following a police investigation into allegations that he collected money from persons by promising to secure housing allocations.
Police said the investigation stemmed from a report involving $300,000 allegedly obtained from a victim in Georgetown between September 10, 2024 and September 14, 2026. Karan Ramlakhan, also known as “Kevin Singh”, was arrested on October 22 and charged on October 26.

Ramlakhan was charged with two counts of obtaining by false pretence, contrary to Section 194 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act, Chapter 8:01.
He appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore, where the charges were read to him. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $75,000 bail for each charge.
The matter was adjourned to November 23.
According to preliminary investigations, the victim was approached by the suspect, who claimed he could facilitate the allocation of a house lot through persons employed at the Housing Ministry. The victim allegedly paid the suspect $300,000 to assist with securing the allocation. However, the promised allocation was not secured, resulting in the matter being reported to the Police.
During the investigation, the suspect reportedly admitted to collecting money from individuals and handing it over to persons he claimed were employed at the Housing Ministry to expedite housing allocations. He reportedly said he received a percentage of the payments for facilitating the transactions.
The suspect further claimed that the $300,000 collected from the victim was handed over to one of those individuals.
Police also received two additional reports alleging that the suspect had collected money from other individuals under similar circumstances, promising to secure allocations of turnkey houses.