Georgetown: Chairperson of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) Volda Lawrence, APNU/AFC activist Carol Joseph and embattled Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo were on Wednesday released on bail after they were slapped with several charges in relation to electoral fraud.
Lawrence is facing an additional forgery charge for which she was granted bail in the sum of $30,000.
Mingo and Joseph were jointly charged with one count of forgery. They are also facing two counts each of conspiracy to defraud. They were each granted bail in the sum of $30,000 on each charge.
The trio are expected to return to court on October 28.
Only last week, Lawrence was slapped with two conspiracy to defraud charges and was released on $50,000 bail on each charge.
Lawrence is already facing private criminal charges jointly with Mingo, for forging electoral documents in an effort to defraud the country.
She was arraigned in August on this charge and placed a $100,000 bail.
In addition to the private criminal charge – for which he is out on self-bail – Mingo was charged by the police and arraigned on four counts of misconduct in public office. He is currently on $600,000 bail.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) Roxanne Myers was also recently released on $300,000 bail after pleading not guilty to two counts of misconduct in public office.
She appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
Myers was represented by attorneys Nigel Hughes and Ronald Daniels, while prosecutor Teriq Mohammed of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) chambers appeared on behalf of the State.
The charges against Myers state that between March 4 and March 14, 2020, in Georgetown, while being a public officer, that is to say the Deputy Chief Elections Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission, she wilfully misconducted herself together with Clairmont Mingo and others, to declare a fraudulent account of votes for the General and Regional Elections which amounted to a breach of the public’s trust in the office of the said DCEO of the Guyana Elections Commission, without any reasonable excuse or justification. She was released on a total of $300,000 bail and the case was adjourned to October 23, 2020.
Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, who is also before the court but on three private criminal fraud charges, is expected to go on trial next month. On Friday, when the case was called before Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court, the prosecutor had just filed additional statements. He was given until October 23 to file the remainder.
The charges were filed by People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) member Desmond Morian, and General Secretary of The New Movement (TNM), Daniel Kanhai, on June 30, 2020.
The magistrate has set November 13 for commencement of the trial for the case filed by Morian, while Kanhai’s matter was given a November 20 start date.
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