| Accused swindler, Simone King, called Simone De Nobrega, of 101 Phase Two Good Hope, East Coast, Demerara was yesterday sent to jail for 12 weeks by Justice William Ramlal at the Berbice High Court.The judge imposed the penalty on the woman when she appeared before him on two matters relating to her flaunting an earlier court order that stipulated that she repay the sum of $1,749,596, plus cost to a client, after it was found that she had the means to pay.Simone King hides her face as she is escorted to prison.She was sentenced to two six-week periods, each period for each count, which will run consecutively.Attorney at law, Joel Persid Edmond, on behalf of his client Roshnie Ramlochan of 366 No 30 Village, West Coast Berbice, brought the matters.Attorney at law Edmond brought the action after King, a known swindler, who parades herself as an Immigration Consultant and an Auto Dealer, failed to honour the court order which was handed down by Justice Franklyn Holder.That order commanded her since September 2009 to repay the sums of $1,040,000 plus cost of $6,096, and $700,000 and cost of 3,500, within 14 days.The matter stems from an advertisement, which was placed in the Guyana Times of September 30, 2008, which listed a phone number to contact for immigration consultancy.When the number was contacted, King answered and pronounced herself as an Immigration Consultant.After further discussions, the two sums mentioned were collected by King who even travelled to West Coast Berbice to collect a part of the money.After the agreed time passed and King could not be contacted, efforts were made to retrieve the sums paid.Promissory notes were signed in which King agreed to repay the money within 14 days, but this also fell through with King failing to fulfill her part of the bargain.Attorney Edmond began legal proceedings and got judgment on behalf of his client.After the woman failed to repay the money, efforts were made to execute a warrant to seize her belongings and sell to pay off the debts. However nothing in her name could have been found.Thus the attorney returned to court with the judgment summons.In court,Cheap Basketball Jerseys, the woman who was represented by attorney at law, Rohan Chandan, informed that she had nothing to say when asked by the judge.Under the Petty Civil Debt Act a judge can impose a sentence of up to six weeks on finding that the accused willfully refused or neglected to pay the debt.In sending the woman to jail, the judge told her that she was heartless. He noted that she showed no remorse. He asked whether she has any conscience.“People like you would prey on the vulnerability of innocent hard working people and take their money unlawfully, without any conscience,” Justice Ramlal said to the woman who stood unmoved and expressionless in the court.Earlier, under cross-examination by Attorney at law Edmond, the woman had stated that she is a manager earning $150,000 monthly.She also claimed that she had a business in Barbados where she earns approximately US$2,000 monthly.King had told the court that she had started an Auto sales business in January with her business partner Gordon Adams.Under further questioning by the lawyer, the woman said that during the months of January and February she had remitted $3.8M to Gordon Adams who lives in the USA via one George Adams to start her business. With this the court found that she had the means to repay her debts, but however she chose not to.The judge told the accused that he gave her the maximum sentences she could get under the circumstances. King is still required to pay the sum owed even on the completion of her term and could be sentenced again.The people owed could move to the courts for another judgement summons and to have this summons executed just before King completes the current jail term.King is to return to court later this month to answer criminal charges pertaining to a series of fraud charges. On one set of charges she is on $1 million bail. She was also remanded to prison on some of the other charges.All told King is believed to have defrauded nearly two dozen people of tens of millions of dollars. |
