Last Updated on Friday, 23 October 2026, 20:02 by Written By Denis Chabrol
Reproduced from Virgin Islands News Online
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- Popular news reporter in the Virgin Islands, Ms Cathyoliva O. Richards, who was convicted of uttering forged documents in July 2025, has been ordered deported from the Territory.
Richards, who is from Guyana but has been working in the VI for over a decade, was ordered deported by Governor Daniel Pruce, according to Statutory Instrument 2026 NO. 63, dated October 20, 2026, and published in the Official Gazette on October 22, 2026.
The senior reporter with Japhix Entertainment (JTV) since 2016 was found guilty on a single count of uttering forged documents.
Richards was given 2-year suspended sentence
The charges against Richards and Production Assistant Hitesh Yadram stemmed from the renewal of work permit applications that were submitted to the Department of Labour and Workforce Development in 2021.
Yadram was found not guilty.
Richards was on January 16, 2026, handed a two-year suspended prison sentence by Justice Angelica Teelucksingh in the High Court of the Virgin Islands.
Governor Pruce ordered Ms Richards to leave the Territory of the Virgin Islands; within thirty days from the date of service “of a copy of this Order upon her”, and thereafter to remain out of the Territory.
BVI Beacon reported that
Prosecutors also tendered 18 documents into evidence, including the three forged certificates of earnings purporting to be from the SSB — one for Ms. Richards and two for Mr. Yadram.
An SSB employee, Lisa McIntosh Bobb, testified that the signatures on those three certificates were not hers, though in each case it looked similar.
Additionally, the word “certificate” was misspelled on the documents, jurors heard.
Deliberations
After deliberating for about three hours, the jury of nine women returned to deliver the verdicts.
Ms. Richards and Mr. Yadram sat expressionless as the verdicts were read aloud — not guilty on both counts against Mr. Yadram and guilty on the single count against Ms. Richards.
After the jury was dismissed and Mr. Yadram left the courtroom, Ms. Richards broke down in tears.
Her bail was extended pending her sentencing, which is scheduled for Sept. 26. The conditions of her bail remain the same as when she was granted bail in Magistrates’ Court previously.
The conditions include a $30,000 bail and requirements to surrender travel documents and check in at the Royal Virgin Islands Police Station every Tuesday.
