Former travel agent Vicky Boodram was denied bail after she and her ex-husband Ravi Arjoonsingh were committed yesterday to stand trial in the San Fernando High Court on 107 fraud charges arising out of failed cruise ship packages.
They, together with the Boodram Travel and Ship Ahoy Cruises Ltd, were committed by San Fernando Senior Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine in the San Fernando First Court.
Arjoonsingh of Rambert Village, La Romaine, was granted $2 million approval bail and ordered to report to the San Fernando Police Station three times per week.
One of the reasons Boodram was denied bail was because she had escaped from the Women Prison in November 2017.
The magistrate dismissed written submissions filed by Arjoonsingh’s attorneys Jagdeo Singh and Lana Lakhan that their client had no case to answer.
Instead, she ruled that Arjoonsingh, Boodram, 39, and the company will have to face a trial before a judge and jury or a judge alone as the prosecution had made out a prima facie case against them.
As she went through the evidence, the magistrate recalled that some of the victims would have spent their life savings and retirement fund to fulfill their dreams to go on a cruise and that they were never refunded.
The state, led by special prosecutor Elaine Greene, initiated paper committal proceedings against Boodram, Arjoonsingh and the company last year April.
It is alleged that the victims paid close to $1.3 million for Caribbean cruises advertised by the company for April and August 2011, but the cruises failed materialise.
Arjoosingh was a director in the company owned by Boodram.
They were initially charged with 109 offences but two of the charges were dismissed because the victims had died.
Boodram was also charged with two money laundering offences.
Those charges alleged that in September 2010 Boodram purchased a Mercedes Benz for $621,042.45 and in October 2010 bought a house and land at Palmiste, San Fernando, for more than $2 million, knowing that the money was derived through fraudulent means.
During the matter, the prosecution tendered some 50 witness statements and 84 exhibits into evidence.
Only the witnesses who were requested by the defence for cross-examination testified in court.
Asking the magistrate to consider bail for Boodram, attorney Jeevan Rampersad mentioned that before her escape, she was on $2 million bail. He submitted that she had no previous convictions and had strong community ties.
Notwithstanding that it is still an allegation, the magistrate said, “How can I ignore that she had escaped lawful custody?”
The other reasons she denied bail, included the multiple charges against Boodram in this matter as well as other courts and the amount of money the victims lost. When the magistrate advised her that she could apply to a judge in chambers for bail, Boodram said, “Thank you, ma’am.”
Boodram and Arjoonsingh have connected matters in the Port of Spain Magistrates Court while Boodram also has matters in the Siparia Court.
