SOCU charges goldsmith for gold, cash offences

Last Updated on Wednesday, 6 April 2016, 0:11 by Denis Chabrol

A goldsmith, charged by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) with exporting gold without a licence and failing to declare in excess of US$10,000 before departing Guyana, was Tuesday granted bail.

Chief Magistrate, Ann Mc Lennan granted GYD$100,000 bail to Richard Ramjit of 4 Bissoon Street, Better Hope, East Coast Demerara after he pleaded not guilty to the offence.

Ramjit is due to return to court on April 15, 2016.

He is charged with being in possession of 19.12 ounces of gold in the form of a gold band and gold neck wear with an estimated value of GYD$4.15 million at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport on January 19, 2016. He is also accused of failing to declare money in excess of US$10,000.

Defence Lawyer, Latchmie Rahamat told the court that Ramjit has already filed a GYD$10 million lawsuit against the Guyana government following his detention.

That matter is slated to come up on April 14, 2016 in the Constitutional Court before Chief Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards.