BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE case involving Nigeria national Baba Tunde Dami Lola Alonge begun with five witnesses giving evidence on behalf of the prosecution whose team was led by Junior Counsel Garth Wilkin.
Alonge was charged with three counts of false pretence with intent to defraud, offences that were committed on April 1, 2 and 3, 2008.
Among the witnesses was a former cashier of the General Post Office in Basseterre who testified that on the dates in question, Alonge showed up at the Post Office to cash United States Postal Services International Postal Money Orders.
She told the Court that on April 1, Alonge came into the Post Office and presented one Money Order valuing US$700 to be cashed. She then asked him for identification to which he produced a Nigerian passport.
The witness testified that she checked the passport and then she proceeded to give him the value of the Money Order in Eastern Caribbean dollars - EC$1855.
She then explained that Alonge returned to the Post Office on the two following days with Money Orders valuing the same US$700 and the same procedure took place.
When being cross-examined by Senior Counsel John Cato who represented the accused, the witness testified that she had no training in detecting false Money Orders and was unaware that the documents were counterfeit.
She said that on the three days that Alonge came to the Post Office he did not say anything or act in any strange manner.
Sandra Davoren, Post Master General at the Post Office also gave evidence. She testified that sometime in April 2008, she had seen unauthentic US Money Orders with Alonge's name.
She explained that she immediately contacted the police and handed over the false documents to them.
She also testified that she is trained in the field of detecting unauthentic US Money Orders and that she was able to detect the ones Alonge had brought to the Post Office because of the missing watermarks among other things that are usually visible on those that are real.
Corporal Elvin Browne also gave evidence in this matter, stating that he was given three documents for US Money Orders on April 23, 2008 by Davoren.
He testified that he made investigations into the report made by the Post Office and that on April 25, 2008 he saw and spoke to Alonge at the Criminal Investigations Department Office in the presence of Sergeant Leonard Browne.
The Corporal told the Court that he told Alonge that he was making inquiries into a report that he [Alonge] received EC$5565 from the Post Office by presenting three documents to the cashier and pretending that they were authentic US Money Orders.
The witness testified that Alonge was cautioned to which he [Alonge] replied "Officer I am going to tell you what really happened in writing".
Corporal Browne said that Alonge gave a statement saying that he was the victim of a scam.
He read Alonge's statement which described him being offered a part-time job by someone called Rodney Welsh who sent him a number of US Money Orders which he was instructed to cash and send to Satina Harris in Chicago.
At cross examination, Corporal Browne was asked if he was not given any information about Rodney Welsh to which he replied in the negative.
He was asked if he had tried gathering information about or contacting Rodney Welsh to which he also replied in the negative.
The case continued with Alonge taking the stand to prove his innocence of the charges laid against him.
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