A Venezuelan woman engaged to marry a Siparia resident was denied bail yesterday on a charge of possession of a tampered passport.
Miryuris Sanchez, 28, a make-up artiste, insisted she was innocent when she appeared before San Fernando magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine.
Through Spanish interpreter Rachael Gosein, the magistrate explained to Sanchez that even if she did not tamper with the passport, just having a passport which was tampered with in her possession would make her guilty.
Sanchez, however, maintained her not guilty plea.
The charge alleged that on December 14, at the Immigration Investigative Office at Knox Street, San Fernando, she had in her possession a Bolivian Republic of Venezuela passport in her name that had been tampered with. She was charged by Police Constable Chateram Singh.
Sanchez, a mother of two, said she has been staying with her boyfriend and his parents in Siparia.
Prosecutor Cleyon Seedan confirmed Sanchez entered the country legally last September, but was only supposed to stay here for a month. He said a fingerprint trace found no criminal record in her name.
The magistrate refused bail because she was a foreign national. Sanchez was remanded into custody to reappear in court on February 2