By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Court Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
AN Azerbaijani man was fined in court yesterday after he admitted to defrauding two stores in Atlantis of a collective $340.95 and to overstaying in the country.
Ruslan Mehdiyev, 35, represented by Geoffrey Farquharson, stood before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson Pratt on charges of overstaying and two counts of fraud by false pretences.
Between January 19 and 20, the defendant defrauded Graycliff Cigars and Sundry Store in the Atlantis resort of $132 and $208.95 respectively by means of a guests account.
It is further said that the defendant overstayed in the country for a period of three months after arriving on October 13, 2022 on a supposed 14-day stay.
While the defendant said that he was initially unaware of the second fraud charge, after consulting with his new attorney he pleaded guilty to all three charges. Mehdiyev also apologised to the chief magistrate for his actions.
Mr Farquharson said his client has no priors in this jurisdiction. The attorney further said that the defendant is terrified of being sent to prison and asked that the court be lenient by only imposing a fine on him.
In view of this the chief magistrate imposed a fine of $1,500 for the overstaying charge or one month in prison. Mehdiyev further faced fines of $350 and $450 for the two fraud charges with each carrying a day’s prison sentence should he fail to pay.
Upon payment of his fines the defendant was told that he would be turned over to the Department of Immigration.
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