A couple facing numerous charges of fraud were granted separate bail when they appeared before Senior Magistrate Valerie Stephens last week.
Victor Mudho, 37, a former employee of Voyage Charters BVI Limited and his wife, Jenell Mudho a native of the USVI are charged with seven counts of obtaining properties by deception and forgery. Mudho, a native of Kenya was granted $20,000 bail with surety, while his wife who is pregnant with their second child was granted $10,000 bail. He was also ordered to surrender his travel documents and report to the Road Town Police Station.
During the detailed allegations presented to the court, it was said that the Assistant Manager of Voyage Chartered ordered some 150 cheques from FirstBank between August 2009 and February 2010 for the company, but never received them.
The Assistant Manager had assumed that the cheques had gotten lost in the mail and proceeded to reorder a new set of cheques.
However, the court heard that after conducting an online banking transaction, the Assistant Manager was made aware of certain discrepancies with some of the cheques and this resulted in further inquiries. It was discovered that the discrepancies were related to the same set of cheques that did not arrive.
The complainant then printed copies of the cheques and informed the bank in March to put a stop on the initial set of cheques. The Assistant Manager later received a call from Delta Gas Station that a stop payment was placed on a cheque for $23.00 worth of gas, registered to a motor vehicle and the license number was provided.
The court was further told that the investigation revealed that the vehicle was owned by an employee of Voyage Charters. Following seven similar incidents involving other cheques, a report was made to the Police and the defendant was informed. However, he denied going to Delta. Mudho reportedly told the lawmen that he had loaned his vehicle to a co-worker, however his co-workers denied ever driving Mudho´s vehicle.
Four other receipts registering the purchases of food, baby and household items were later obtained from Rite Way Supermarket, K-Mark and other business entities. Mrs. Mudho was brought in for questioning by the Police on August 10, but also denied any knowledge.
However, during further interviews, Mrs. Mudho informed the Police that her husband had brought home a box of cheques. She admitted to writing six of them. She also told the Police that she had signed her signature on the cheques as “Delphine”, a name she had made up.
Later, Mr. Mudho also allegedly admitted to stealing cheques sometime in 2009, of which he wrote 16 or 17. He later told the Police that the reason for stealing the cheques was “out of a need” since he could no longer maintain his family with his salary.
The Prosecutor told the court that a search warrant was carried out on his premises in West End, but nothing was found. The cheques which remain outstanding are in the sum of $1,025.65. The couple who are represented by Mary Lou-Creque will return to court on November 4 when the matter is up for report.
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