A Company Director was granted bail when he appeared a Justice of the Peace yesterday charged with two fraud offences.
Terrance Hypolite, 63, of Edinburgh 500, Chaguanas, was charged with uttering a forged document and attempting to obtain $4.8 million from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago by false pretences. He appeared before JP Babootee at the Woodbrook Police Station on Thursday 25th February, 2021.
He was granted bail in the sum of $150,000 and ordered to appear virtually at the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court on March 25th, 2021.
It is alleged, the accused went to a commercial bank in Diego Martin on February 17th 2021, where he presented a Government of Trinidad and Tobago cheque, payable to his construction business, in the amount of $4.8 million dollars. He also provided copies of award of contract letters purportedly issued by a special purpose State company to his construction company to undertake infrastructural works at a port project in Toco, which was due to start on March 25th 2021.
The cheque was accepted as genuine by the bank and the proceeds credited ‘on hold’ to the company’s business account subject to verification and processing by the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.
During the processing and verification phase, the Central Bank alerted the commercial bank that the cheque in question was not issued by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and was therefore fraudulent.
A report was made to the Fraud Squad and officers conducting enquiries found that there was no work contract in existence between the State Company and the construction company. There was also no port project at Toco.
Hypolite was arrested on Wednesday 24th February, 2021, by Fraud Squad officers and charged with the offences by WPC Kennedy on Thursday 25th February, 2021.
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