Volda, Mingo and Joseph electoral fraud case further put off to December 21

The case premised on electoral fraud against Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) Volda Lawrence along with embattled Region Four  Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo and APNU+AFC member Carol Smith-Joseph has been put off once again.

The trio will return to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on December 21, 2020 following the adjournment of their case on Wednesday.

On October 21, 2020 Lawrence, Mingo and Joseph were all released on bail after they were slapped with several charges in relation to electoral fraud.

Both Lawrence and Mingo have had several private criminal charges against them withdrawn by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and they now face charges instituted by the Police.

Lawrence who is slapped with two charges of conspiracy to defraud is facing an additional forgery charge.

Mingo and Joseph were jointly charged with one count of forgery. They are also facing two counts each of conspiracy to defraud.

Mingo was also charged by the Police and arraigned on four counts of misconduct in public office.

The lawyers representing Mingo, Lawrence and Joseph continue to resist the inclusion of Sanjeev Datadan as part of a special six-member team hired by the DPP to prosecute the case.

They also want the case to be tried before a 12-member jury instead of a lone Magistrate.

The matter was stalled on Wednesday as corrections are to be made to the DPP’s fiat that allows for the private prosecutors.