By KEILE CAMPBELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kcampbell@tribunemedia.net
A HAITIAN national accused of using a false Bahamian passport and voter’s card was granted $9,000 bail on Friday, one of two men charged last week as authorities continue to confront scrutiny over document fraud.
Evans Mickey Cadet, 36, a barber who lives off Joe Farrington Road, faces charges including possession and uttering of false documents and fraud by false pretences.
Prosecutors alleged that on July 9, 2024, in New Providence, Mr Cadet possessed a false Bahamian passport bearing his name, knowing it to be fraudulent. He is further accused of uttering that passport to the Parliamentary Registration Department on July 22, 2024.
He is also alleged to have possessed a false Bahamian voter’s card and to have obtained both the voter’s card and passport by false pretences.
Cadet was granted bail with conditions including signing in at Elizabeth Police Station and wearing an electronic monitoring device. The matter was adjourned to June 23, 2026.
A police ‘wanted’ posted – warning Cadet was considered armed and dangerous and should be approached – was issued by the Royal Bahams Police Force on April 16.
In a separate case, Brian Omar Brooks, 46, a Jamaican of Sri Lanka Crest, was arraigned on nine counts, including possession and uttering of forged and false documents, as well as fraud by false pretences.
Prosecutors alleged that on March 6, 2024, Mr Brooks possessed a forged Bahamas Department of Immigration certificate of registration in his name, knowing it to be false, and uttered it with intent to defraud.
He is also accused of possessing a false Bahamian passport on May 11, 2024, and obtaining that passport from the Bahamas Passport Office on November 11, 2024, by false pretences.
Additional counts allege he uttered the passport to immigration authorities on multiple dates between August and November 2024.
He was granted $8,000 cash bail with conditions including weekly sign-in at Carmichael Police Station and electronic monitoring. His matter was adjourned to July 1, 2026.
The cases come as officials point to increased detection of fraudulent documents.
Chief Passport Officer Nicholas Symonette said in March that 98 suspected passport fraud cases had been referred to police.
He said a list tabled in the House of Assembly by Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard reflected an earlier subset of those referrals and that strengthened review processes were identifying irregularities.
Prime Minister Philip Davis has defended the system’s integrity, saying improved procedures have enhanced detection.
Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell has said Bahamian passports are “more secure than they have ever been” and urged anyone with evidence of fraud to report it to police.
The latest cases come a week after a woman, Vany Brutus, 44, admitted that, for the purpose of being registered as a voter, she gave a false statement under oath to a revising officer, claiming she lived on an unnamed road in the Southern Shores constituency on March 30. When asked to explain her actions, she said she was moving to Killarney. The woman was fined and barred from obtaining a voter’s card for three years after admitting she gave a false statement to the Parliamentary Registration Department.
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