The State is expected to begin its case against alleged fraudster Vicky Boodram and her ex-husband on 109 fraud charges in the San Fernando Magistrates Court on April 4. This was indicated yesterday when Boodram made her first appearance in the San Fernando First Court since her alleged escape from prison last November.
When Boodram and her ex-husband Ravi Arjoonsingh appeared before Senior Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine yesterday, Boodram told the magistrate she was representing herself. Arjoonsingh’s attorney, Jagdeo Singh, was not in court.
The charges stemmed from an allegation that Boodram, then owner of Boodram Travel Tours and Ship Ahoy Cruises Limited, took money from several people for cruises which never materialised.
State attorney Elaine Greene said the State was ready to proceed via paper committal but would prefer to start the cases after dealing with the other unrelated matters against Boodram in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates Court. In paper committal proceedings, statements from State witnesses are tendered into evidence and the defence has the opportunity to cross-examine them.
Greene said those matters were scheduled to start on March 21 and she anticipated that hearings in the San Fernando matters would last four days.
In the interest of making sufficient use of the court’s time, Greene said the State intends to select and proceed on some of the charges since the evidence in all was basically the same. The court would then be invited to make a decision on all the matters, based on evidence in the few charges selected.
Greene said the State was also ready to proceed on the money laundering and larceny charges laid by Cpl Vinelle Bassarath, WPC Bernard and Ag Sgt Seecharan.
Boodram has been before the courts since 2012. However, she has been at the Women’s Prison in Golden Grove, Arouca since last March after she rearrested on unrelated charges which are before the Port-of-Spain Magistrates Court. She was denied bail on those charges.
Last November, she allegedly escaped from the Women’s Prison but was recaptured three days later at a house in Penal. Two police officers and another woman are charged in connection to her alleged escape.
Boodram and Arjoonsingh, who is out on bail, will return to court on January 30.