Rainy day for SOCU as Brutus dodges ‘remand bullet’
Head of SOCU; Fizil Karimbaksh
October 24, 2024
It was a distressing five hours in the Georgetown Magistrates Court on Thursday, October 24, 2024, for agents of the Special Organized Crime Unit as Assistant Commissioner of Police Calvin Brutus, his wife, driver, and a businessman appeared to answer a multiplicity of financial related charges brought by SOCU.
While the prosecution did not have difficulty with the court granting bail to the businessman and the wife of Brutus who is pregnant, the same could not be said for Brutus and his driver Kevin George. They all appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty.
Brutus appeared at court today neatly dressed in his Guyana Police Force Uniform as a clear message that he remains a member of the Guyana Police Force by law. Brutus’s appearance in his uniform shocked many within the security sector given earlier comments by the Attorney General on Brutus’s status within the police force among other things. Some have suggested that the Attorney General has jumped the gun in many instances with a disregard for procedures.
The matter against the four were called after lunch and the reading of the charges, especially to the Assistant Commissioner of Police took a lengthy time.
Several maneuvers by SOCU to have Brutus remanded to jail failed as the learned counsels for Brutus effectively and efficiently ensured that all necessary systems were put in place, including making strong applications to the court for the granting of bail and also offering up his passport, not the SOCU but the court, to negate the argument of him being a flight risk
On Thursday, Brutus faced 30 of some 240 charges, including, obtaining money by false pretense, money laundering, liability of officials, misconduct in public office, and larceny by a public official.
Sergeant Kevin George and businessman Asif Zafarally, 34, from Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara (EBD), are accused of obtaining money by false pretense.
Brutus’s wife, Adonika Aulder, was charged separately with two counts of money laundering, involving $352 million held in her company’s bank account. She was granted $1 million bail in total, Brutus $10. Million bail in total and Zafarally.
SOCU has been conducting a four months investigation into alleged financial crimes by Brutus and his wife. The individuals are to report to SOCU once per month until the conclusion of the matters.
