By Latrishka Thomas
The coming months may seem like déjà vu for suspended Superintendent of Police Ray John and his former partner Shakema Charles, as they are once again facing legal proceedings after being re-charged in connection with an apparent passport scam.
Following a ruling last month by High Court judge Tunde Bakre that freed them of previous charges, the former couple was recharged and brought back before a magistrate.
They had previously been accused of conspiring with Vincentian resident Lonzel Jones to forge passport bio pages using unauthorised Multi-Layered Infilling Sheets between January 1 and April 7, 2018.
On January 7, a lengthy judge-only trial against the duo began, which saw 19 witnesses testify, revealing that John and Charles provided the sheets and other documents to Jones in St Vincent.
John allegedly promised Jones substantial compensation for creating fake passport bio pages.
The alleged scheme was uncovered when Jones was caught delivering the finished documents to John’s nephew.
The trial, which was nearing its conclusion, faced a setback when Bakre upheld a defence submission, leading to the dismissal of the entire case on the grounds that he did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter without a jury.
This decision meant that the case will now start over from scratch and be retried if it makes it to the High Court for a second time.
John and Charles are now facing charges of conspiracy to forge passport bio pages using unauthorised Multi-Layered Infilling Sheets.
Additionally, John is facing two charges of receiving the aforementioned sheets.
Both were granted bail in the sum of $50,000 each by Magistrate Conliffe Clarke, with John required to present $4,500 in cash and Charles ordered to pay $2,000.
Their new committal hearing was set for April 15 where Clarke will decide whether there is enough evidence against them to send the case back up to High Court for trial.