Two Cuban nationals were sentenced to nine months imprisonment on Tuesday, January 23, 2018, by Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan for the offence of forgery.
Tahimi Batista, 25 and Jose Rodriguez, 29, were charged separately for uttering a forged Canadian Resident Card purporting same to be issued by the Government of Canada to Stacy Morriah, a Customer Representative of Caribbean Airlines, on January 20, 2018, at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
With the aid of an interpreter, they pleaded guilty to the charge. The court heard that the couple arrived in Guyana legally on January 17, 2018, at the CJIA and on January 20, they tried to travel to Canada with the fake resident card.
Batista told the court that her boyfriend applied for the document via the internet and paid $US2,000. The Chief Magistrate ordered that they are deported after serving their sentence.