Lawrence, Carol Joseph to be Charged with forgery, conspiracy to defraud

– after visiting CID for questioning on Tuesday

Chairperson of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and former Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence is expected to be charged with forgery before the Court on Wednesday while popular APNU+AFC activist from Region Five, Carol Joseph is to be charged with conspiracy to defraud.

Speaking with their attorney, Nigel Hughes, the Village Voice learned that both Lawrence and Joseph were asked to visit the police on Tuesday to which they complied, in the presence of their lawyer. There, they were questioned about their involvement in the 2020 General and Regional Election and their interviews were videotaped.

“After the interview, they were asked to sign a recognizance to attend court tomorrow where Volda will be charged with forgery and Carol to be charged with conspiracy to defraud,” Hughes stated. A recognizance is a bond which a person undertakes to observe some condition, especially to appear when summoned. They are expected to appear before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court at 09:00 hours on Wednesday.

At Lawrence’s last appearance before the Court she was dealt two charges from the State for conspiracy to defraud at the General Elections and conspiracy to defraud at the Regional Elections. She was released on $50,000 bail for each charge and the charges came one day after she was questioned at the CID, detained, and released on $100,000 station bail.

Before that she received private criminal charges filed against her by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr. for alleged conspiracy to forge documents in her party’s favor.

Hughes believes that there is an active effort to humiliate Lawrence by dragging her numerous times before the police and the Court. Meanwhile, Lawrence maintains her innocence.

“I remain strong, I know I have done nothing wrong and I’ll continue to say that because that is what it is… I want to believe that there is an attempt to have a political pull back and use the State apparatus to harass and persecute me and others,” she said outside the Court on October 14, at her last appearance.
On the other hand, Joseph was last questioned by the CID in September and released on 100,000 station bail.