By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
TWO men were yesterday placed on probation and ordered to repay a marketing agency which they defrauded nearly two years ago.
Tristian Rolle, 33, and Travado Taylor, 35, appeared before Magistrate Andrew Forbes, charged with possession of forged documents, uttering forged documents and fraud by means of false pretences, after they were accused of defrauding HR Business Solutions of more than $4,000 with fraudulent FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) cheques between August and September 2018.
The arraignment comes after several people were charged last week for defrauding the same company of more than $40,000.
During yesterday’s court hearing, the prosecution said Rolle was found in possession of a fraudulent FCIB cheque on September 14, 2018. It is alleged he uttered the forged document to draw $3,500, which he then made payable to himself to obtain the cash that same day.
Taylor was also accused of committing the same offences. It is alleged that he, on August 2, 2018, uttered a forged $1,200 cheque to obtain money from the same company’s account, which he also made payable to himself the same day. Both defendants pleaded guilty to the offences.
Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie said the owner of HR Business Solutions told police she was reviewing her cheque logs on September 24, 2018 when she noticed several written cheques that she had not approved.
He said she filed an official complaint with the Financial Crime Unit and an investigation was launched. This then led to the arrest of the defendants.
Attorney Tamara Taylor-Storr, who represented both Rolle and Taylor, said her clients are both fathers and were extremely remorseful for their actions. She said they pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
She added that both men had no previous convictions and asked Magistrate Forbes for leniency with his sentencing.
After listening to the pleas in mitigation from the defendants’ counsel, Magistrate Forbes warned them about the seriousness of their “selfish” actions, which carried a penalty of five years’ imprisonment for each offence.
“We just had Father’s Day and y’all were locked up for Father’s Day. What type of message does that say to the children?” he asked.
He told them that they needed to realise that their decisions not only affected themselves, but the Bahamian society at large.
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