Criminal charges of false imprisonment which were filed against three Directors of New Building Society (NBS) in March 2018 were dismissed against them on Thursday at Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The eight charges were dismissed by Senior Magistrate Dellon Bess on the grounds the special Prosecutor and Assistant Counsel failed to attend court or provide the court with any explanation for their absence on several appearances.
Attorney for the Directors, Nigel Hughes, informed the press that the dismissal came after the court waited in excess of 90 minutes for counsel to appear and after causing several inquiries to be made about whether the Prosecutor had informed the Clerk of Court or any other court official about their absence. The inquiries revealed that no such notification had been sent.
The charges detailed that on January 23, 2018, Anil Beharry, Anil Vishnu, and Deka Tularam prevented eight persons, inclusive of Court Marshals and Police officers, from leaving NBS’ Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown office.
The prosecution was contending that on January 23, 2018, Court Marshals and Police officers had visited the lending agency to execute a levy of the business’ assets.
Just two days prior, Justice Brassington Reynolds awarded some $59 million in damages to the company’s former CEO, Maurice Arjoon, for wrongful dismissal and pension.
The company had locked its doors, claiming that it was under the impression the lending agency was being robbed, preventing customers from leaving the building.
However, during the six-hour standoff Gina Arjoon, Martin Brown, Alex Green, Patrick Higgins, Joseph Allen, Ganesh Hira, Shawn Kalicharran, and Goodish Singh were all confined within the building.
