Continued un-readiness by the prosecution to proceed could see yet another fraud case which has been before the courts for some time, thrown out as happened to a few in recent months.
When the five-year-old case against family physician Dr Charles Malcolm Alexander Grant came up in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court last Thursday, the prosecution indicated it was still not ready to proceed.
Grant, 53, of #6 Eagles Nest, Dairy Meadows, St James is charged with 18 counts of stealing over $600,000, being the proceeds of Royal Bank of Canada which were made payable to Grant and belonging to SCMC Incorporated.
Police prosecutor Station Sergeant Irvin Kellman told the court he found himself “in the unfortunate position” of having to ask for another adjournment.
He explained that “quite a bit of investigations” had already taken place and that although some of the statements were available, the file was not at the stage at which full disclosure could be handed over.
He asked, therefore, that the investigator on the case be given another chance to complete the file since the investigation was not “a simple one”.
Attorney-at-law Shelly Seecharan who, in association with Sir Richard Cheltenham Q.C., appeared on behalf of Grant, had no objection to the request for an adjournment.
However, Magistrate Douglas Frederick felt the “matter is taking far too long” in terms of getting disclosure and forwarding files to the prosecution.
“This is a matter which is alleged to have occurred since 2010,” he pointed out.
The magistrate went on to say that whether the department responsible for the investigation “needs expertise or whatever they need, they have to get their act together”.
“I have just sounded the warning,” he told the prosecutor.