Yasbel Benitez from the Dominican Republic was on Wednesday slapped with two immigration fraud charges, and appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The first charge, which was read by city Magistrate Fabayo Azore via a translator, stated that Benitez between May 13, 2016 and December 20, 2016 in the city of Georgetown, with intent to defraud, conspired with person/s to forge one Guyana immigration service stamp in her Dominican Republic passport, purporting to show that same had been issued by the Guyana Immigration Department.
In addition, the woman on April 13, 2017, uttered to an Immigration officer one Dominican Republic passport in favour of herself, with one forged immigration service stamp endorsed to show that it was issued by the Immigration Department of Guyana, knowing same to be forged.
Police Prosecutor Simone Payne told the court that the woman entered Guyana legally via the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on February 2, 2017, and was granted a one-month stay in the country. She later applied for an extension and it was upon confirmation of such, that it was discovered that her previous extension of stay in 2016, was forged and not issued by local immigration authorities.
The pregnant woman admitted to both charges and was slapped with a G$100,000 fine for each offence. Failure to pay the fine will result in six months’ imprisonment.
