Jamaican businessman pleads guilty to illegal departure in Guyana

Last Updated on Thursday, 30 September 2021, 9:21 by Denis Chabrol

A Jamaican businessman on Wednesday pleaded guilty to illegally departing Guyana and he was fined G$20,000 or three weeks imprisonment, police said.

Thirty-eight year old Payton Maurice Smith of Kingston Jamaica appeared at the Number 51 Village Magistrates’ Court to answer the charge. Police said he pleaded guilty before Magistrate Mr Rabindranauth Singh.

Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) Divisional Police Commander, Jairam Ramlakhan said the Jamaican man was arrested by Surinamese authorities and sent back to Guyana from where he had departed without reporting to an immigration officer.

Smith was arrested on September 27 and charged on September 29 with illegal departure with breaching Guyana’s immigration laws.