By Latrishka Thomas
A seemingly innocent favour for a friend took an unexpected turn, according to the first witness in the trial involving suspended Superintendent of Police Ray John.
John, along with his former partner Shakema Charles, is facing charges 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.
Charles, an employee of the Antigua and Barbuda Passport Office, is accused of conspiring with John.
John, originally from St Vincent, is also alleged to have received 16 Multi-Layered Infilling Sheets.
The highly-anticipated judge-only trial began before Justice Tunde Bakre yesterday.
The first witness, Superintendent of Police Lisborn Michael, disclosed a long-standing friendship with John, dating back to their entry into the force 34 years ago.
Michael recounted that on April 3 2018, during a conversation at the police canteen, John mentioned having documents to deliver to a business partner in St Vincent. Michael agreed to transport the documents, aware of John’s two businesses in St Vincent – a bar and an apartment.
The following day, Michael received missed calls and messages from John, who had not yet delivered the documents to him up to 11pm.
John later dropped off a large brown envelope with the name Lonzel Jones on it, along with a phone number. Michael said he recognised John’s handwriting, having been friends for decades.
He said the envelope appeared to be sealed and he did not open it.
Michael then recalled travelling on the 10am flight the next day and arriving after 2pm.
He told the court that when he arrived, he got a call from the number on the envelope and met with the person to hand over the envelope.
Michael said it was not until sometime later that he learned about the contents of the envelope after being contacted by Vincentian police.
On April 10, the witness said he was invited to the Criminal Investigations Department for questioning and was asked to sign the envelope.
This item was presented in court for identification purposes.
John’s lawyer, Hugh Marshall, suggested that Michael should have been suspicious, given his police experience, but he denied knowing the contents.
He, however, agreed that the envelope did not appear to have ever been sealed upon examination in court.
The next witness, Vincentian police officer, Sorenson Douglas, testified via video call.
On April 6, acting on received information, he observed Jones near the Argyle International Airport, handing two brown envelopes to an individual in a red car. Upon questioning, the driver of the red car claimed to be waiting for documents for his grandmother.
Upon inspection, the envelopes contained passport bio pages, the witness shared.
The witness provided further information, explaining that after transporting Jones and his friend to the station with the envelopes, a search was conducted.
In one of the envelopes, they discovered a male Iraqi passport bio page along with four passport-sized photos resembling the individual depicted on the bio page. Additionally, the envelope contained a female Sudanese bio page with corresponding photos, and a male Pakistani bio page with photos.
In the other envelope, he noted three Antiguan and Barbudan male bio pages, along with one female bio page. He said there was another which had a photograph of a male but was incorrectly labelled as female.
The officer signed those pieces of evidence and returned to the airport.
He told the court that he found one more Antiguan and Barbudan bio page on the ground near the same spot where he observed the earlier transaction.
Douglas said that this one had both male and female pictures and unrecognisable writing.
The envelopes and bio pages were admitted into evidence before the trial was adjourned until Monday.
