Three Berbicians were robbed of cash, jewellery and other valuables in excess of $3 million, shortly after arriving in Georgetown, having travelled from the United States (US).
Reports are the three travelled from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and went to a Chinese restaurant on Albert Street, Alberttown, Georgetown, at about 12:00h on Wednesday.
This media group was told that the three were among persons whose luggage were delayed which forced them to wait at the airport to collect their belongings.
While dining, the items were left in a minibus which the trio used to transport the items from the airport.
They then spent about 20 minutes in the restaurant and to their dismay, when they returned to the vehicle, it was discovered that one of the windows was forced opened.
Upon further investigation, two passports were seen on the seat of the bus and three bags containing the valuables were missing.
Fereeza Ramberly, 29, who was returning with her husband and brother-in-law, explained that she had three diamond rings and a pair of diamond earrings in her hand bag which was missing along with other gold jewellery. She said the diamond jewellery is worth more than $1.6 million.
The bag, valued US$120, also had items she bought as gifts for relatives which were worth in excess of US$500. Five cellular phones including an iphone 10 and a Samsung Galaxy Edge were among the items in her handbag.
Meanwhile, her husband, Vicky, 33, had a large quantity of jewellery in his haversack which was also stolen. Ramberly’s brother-in-law, who also had a haversack in the bus, lost his medication and US$1000.
After an alarm was raised, persons in the area went to the trio’s aid and assisted them with surveillance footage, which showed a lone man entering the bus and spending less than two minutes before exiting. During that time, the man who was wearing a hood, went through the bags.
Despite a search of the area, Ramberly’s permanent resident card and passport were not found.
However, sometime after, a car passed the scene and a passenger threw something out the window. Upon checking, the green card and a boarding pass were discovered on the parapet. Police were called and have since arrested a man fitting the description seen on the surveillance footage.
Members of the group told this publication that the investigators told them that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. (Andrew Carmichael).
