Stewartville businesswoman charged in vehicle scam

Last Updated on Thursday, 16 January 2025, 21:55 by Writer

A Stewartville, West Coast Demerara, businesswoman, who is accused of defrauding 95 persons of large sums of money for the purchase of vehicles from her, has been refused bail and remanded to prison until January 31, police said.

Police alleged that 31-year-old Adacia Coleman of 22 Stewartsville Old Road, West Coast Demerara defrauded the persons of amounts ranging from GY$300,000 to GY$1 million between January and December, 2024. Ms Coleman reportedly owns and operates Limitless Lenders, which is located at her residence, and she has six employees.

She pleaded not guilty when she appeared at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court.

“Several victims reported that they would have paid down cash for a particular vehicle of their choice after which they would be given a receipt for their cash by the suspect and would be given a three-month period for the vehicle to be delivered to them.

“Further investigations revealed that after the three-month period elapsed, the victims would make several checks at the suspect’s office enquiring about their vehicle but they would be told by the businesswoman that the vehicle was not available due to a storm in the Caribbean. The suspect kept giving the victims this same explanation every time they checked with her,” the Guyana Police Force said in a statement.

Police said as a result, several of the persons became frustrated and demanded that the suspect return their money. However, she opted to return their monies through MMG or bank cheques but the victims demanded their cash in hand. Investigators said nine of the persons were told by a Demerara Bank teller to return the post-dated cheques to the issuer but no reason was given.

Police are continuing their investigations into the alleged scam based on advice by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The woman surrendered to police on January 7 and has been so far charged with two counts of obtaining money by false pretence.