Judge to rule today on grounding Petrojam duo
Published:Thursday | March 18, 2021 | 12:24 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
Chief Parish Judge Chester Crooks is to decide today in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court whether he will be restricting the movement of the two former Petrojam executives who are on fraud charges.
Both accused reside and work in the United States.
Former Petrojam general manager Floyd Grindley and his former chairman, Dr Perceval Bahado-Singh, have been charged in relation to allegations that between December 2016 and May 2018, the ex-chairman made fraudulent claims amounting to US$73,620 for overseas business trips that he did not take.
Grindley is alleged to have aided and abetted the ex-chairman in the commission of the alleged offence.
He is facing eight counts of aiding and abetting obtaining money by means of false pretence while Bahado-Singh has been hit with 12 counts of obtaining money by means of false pretence.
When both men appeared in court on Wednesday, their lawyers indicated that they were pleading not guilty.
Clerk of the court, Hansurd Lawson, who informed the judge that Bahado-Singh had made full restitution, however, raised concerns about the accused men being a flight risk, noting that they were both dual citizens and that no conditions were attached to their bail.
But attorney-at-law Bert Samuels, who is representing Grindley, quickly informed the court that his client was not a dual citizen but has a green card.
Attorney-at-law Bianca Samuels, who is representing Grindley, along with K.D. Knight, QC, however, confirmed that her client has dual citizenship.
Lawson then indicated the police’s desire for bail conditions to be imposed on the two accused. Grindley and Bahado-Singh had been offered station bail of $400,000.
Judge Crooks was then informed that the police wanted reporting conditions, including the surrender of travel documents with a stop order in place at all ports, and an order for them not to have any contact with the witnesses.
“If they wish to travel, they should ask,” Lawson said.
The defence lawyers, however, strongly opposed the police’s request and asked the judge to allow their clients to travel to and from the US without any restrictions on the grounds that their clients have been cooperative.
Bahado-Singh and Grindley had demonstrated, it was argued, that they were not a flight risk and were willing to attend court to answer the charges. The defence said that it was their clients who had initiated contact with the police, through their lawyers, when they learnt that law enforcers had an interest in them.
“If he is prepared to fly here to be charged and arrested, and if he has turned up to court this morning, I think that demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is not a flight risk,” said Bert Samuels.
The attorney also asked the judge to consider that his client was employed overseas and has his family there, which he has to support.
Bianca Samuels further asked Judge Crooks to bear in mind that the Bail Act only required the imposition of bail conditions in the cases where risk arises.
“I don’t believe there is a risk that he will not attend the trial,” she said, while urging the judge to consider the hardship that her client would face with travel restrictions.
Following the defence’s arguments, Judge Crooks indicated that he agreed that the accused men had shown good faith by returning to the island to be charged but that he also understood the prosecution’s fears that they might abscond.
Consequently, the judge, “out of an abundance of caution” and “to grant peace of mind to the Crown”, ordered them to surrender their travel documents.
He, however, advised their lawyers that he was going to increase the bail amount to $2 million but would do so today in order to give the defence time to make the necessary arrangements.
Additionally, he informed the lawyers that he would make a decision on the travel restrictions and the other bail conditions.
Bail for both accused was extended.