BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – NEWRISH NITAL, a popular Mathematics teacher, chemist and host of the ZIZ television programme ‘Ask Nital’, was this afternoon (June 15) found guilty of fraud by a 12-member jury.
The jury, which took less than an hour to return with a unanimous verdict, found Nital guilty of all three counts.
Nital was remanded into custody at Her Majesty’s Prison and will have to return to the Basseterre High Court of Justice in two weeks time for his sentencing hearing.
According to the prosecution team which was led by Crown Counsel Garth Wilkin, on April 1, 2 and 4, 2008, Nital allegedly presented several United States Postal Service International Postal Money Orders to a cashier at the Basseterre Post Office with intent to defraud.
He obtained EC$3 710, EC$1 855 and EC$3 710 on April 1, 2 and 4, respectively, from the cashier by presenting the money orders that later turned out to be fraudulent.
The three money orders totalled EC$9 275.
Nital was also said to have had a total of five US$700 money orders and had taken them to the postal office on the dates in question.
The case began on June 9 and Corporal Elvin Browne, Constable Alexis George, a cashier at the post office and the Postmaster General gave evidence on behalf of the prosecution.
The cashier was the first witness to testify in the matter and said that Nital presented the money orders to her.
She told the court that she informed Nital that only one money order could be cashed per day but because she knew him she offered to cash two.
The cashier said Nital told her that he was too busy to return that many times and decided to cash two of them on the first time, one on the second and two on the third time he visited the post office.
During her testimony, the Postmaster General said that upon inspection of the money orders after they were cashed, she realised that certain security numbers were missing.
She also said that Nital made a payment of EC$6 000 to the post office as restitution, but she informed him that the payment did not cover the monies he owed.
After the prosecution rested its case, Nital gave evidence under oath and he told the court that one evening when he arrived home he received an email from an individual from a “carib singles website” of which he is a member.
He said after several exchanges between himself and the individual who he named Rodney Welsh, the person would have been a potential sponsor for his television programme ‘Ask Nital’, which he feared ZIZ would have cancelled because of lack of funding.
Nital said he sent a proposal he had previously sent to potential sponsors to Welsh, who said that he was a part of an organisation called World Barriers.
The accused also told the court he received a response that the organisation was interested in making contributions to the project and a number of suggestions were made.
He explained that further discussions with Welsh were conducive to setting up a sub-branch of his organisation in St. Kitts with the employment of at least 30 people.
However, Nital had to prove to Welsh that he was trustworthy and an honest man before any deals could have been made, so an agreement was made whereby Welsh would have sent money to him and he (Nital) was directed to take 10 percent for himself and the remainder had to be sent back to Welsh.
Nital further said that after receiving the money orders he went to the Royal Bank of Canada but learnt that there was a 31 day waiting period and was informed that he should try the Post Office.
Nital said he cashed five of the 13 money orders over a period of three days and returned to the Royal Bank where he found out the waiting period had changed to 11 days and left the money orders there.
He was later informed that they were fraudulent.
Nital said that he cooperated with the police and also spoke to the Commissioner of Police.
He was represented by Attorney-At-Law Anthony Johnson who, in his closing arguments, said that after it was found out that the money orders were fraudulent, Nital’s actions were not those of a man who had committed a crime.
He also said to the jurors that if Nital had known the money orders were fraudulent, why would he put them in the bank.
“I want you to judge this case fairly and treat it like if it’s a friend or family member,” Johnson told the jury.
During his closing arguments, Prosecutor Wilkin began with, “What could be a greater false pretense than going to a cashier with counterfeit and putting on a straight face?”
He also mentioned several discrepancies in Nital’s testimony and said that the Mathematics teacher is an intelligent man creating a story to get himself off.
“Money makes people do funny things, especially when they don’t have it,” he said.
In his summation, Justice Errol Thomas told the jury that Nital’s intention of helping his show and helping to start the organisation were all applaud able but had no bearing on the charges.
He also reminded the jury that payments made do not have any effect on a charge.
After the verdict was returned, a solemn Nital was escorted to Her Majesty’s Prison where he will await sentencing.
