BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE case involving Mandefro Roberts, Amare Browne and Esha Browne continued Thursday (Jan. 20) with testimonies from more employees of the St. Kitts Royal Beach Casino.
According to the prosecution, the three accused committed the crimes of fraud and conspiracy to defraud at the St. Kitts Royal Beach Casino in Frigate Bay on February 4, 2009, where they obtained monies by fraud to the tune of US$800.
In terms of the second count, conspiracy to defraud, the prosecutor alleged that on the said date the three accused had engaged in a joint enterprise to obtain the money from the casino by presenting counterfeit currency in exchange for it.
Witnesses who have so far testified are Cage and Counter Department Co-Manager Shellburn Prince, Assistant Supervisor Collette Williams, cashier Soubrena Daniel, Supervisor Vanessa Morton, and Security Supervisor Cecil Liburd.
In her testimony, Morton said one of her cashiers told her something on February 5, 2009 and gave her the bills. She said she had notified Surveillance and Security and had marked the bills, which instantly turned black, indicating that they were counterfeits.
Morton said she then gave the bills to Liburd who placed them in an envelope.
During cross-examination, it was revealed that Morton had signed the flap portion of the envelope but they later found that part missing.
In his evidence, Liburd said he had reported for work on February 5, 2009 and at about 10:30 p.m. he received a report from the Cage Supervisor.
Liburd said he had checked the serial numbers of eight bills and observed that three of them were the same, also three other bills had the same serial numbers imprinted upon them while two more had different serial numbers.
He told the court that he had placed the bills in an envelope along with a copy of the counterfeit report, sealed and signed his name on it along with the signature of the supervisor. Liburd further stated that he took the envelope to the security office and gave it to the Security Manager, Jason Otto.
Defence counsel Dr. Henry Browne made submitted that the evidence brought by the witness is conflicting, because it indicated that the envelope was signed on February 7, 2009 while the incident occurred on Feb. 5, 2009 when they signed and that the envelope is unknown to the case.
His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas however said that would be a decision for the jury.
The defence counsels also won their objection to the prosecution’s witness, Woman Police Constable Rosemary Roberts, testifying in court. They claimed that the evidence she gave was ruled as inadmissible and was not used at the lower court.
Roberts is represented by Barrister-at-Law Hesketh Benjamin and Senior Counsel Dr. Henry Browne while Esha Browne is represented by Chesley Hamilton and Amare Browne is self-represented.
