Female cops are charged with erasing electronic data in a fraud case
Kaieteur News – Yesterday two female policemen made their first court appearance after being accused of erasing electronic data, which is relevant to a fraud case in relation to millions being abused from the Guyana Police Finance Department (GPF).
Accused: Constable Jenneka Carmichael (left) and Constable Tatyana Smith.
The defendants, Jenneka Carmichael of Lot 121 Onderneeming, West Coast Berbice, and Tatyana Smith, 21, of Lot 43 Third Street, Alberttown, Georgetown, both police constables, appeared at Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before the Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan.
The duo denied the charge, which alleges that between January 28, 2021 and February 4, 2021 at Guyana Police headquarters, Eve Leary, Kingston, Georgetown, they deliberately and without excuse or legitimate justification, erased electronic data from a computer the GPF that was at the Message administrative office of Felix Austin Police College.
According to the facts of the allegation, Carmichael and Smith are clerks at Felix Austin Police College. They were charged by the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU).
Last year an investigation into the alleged $ 150M misuse was launched by the Police Finance Department. SOCU conducted the probe and sent several senior officers either on vacation or relocated. A few officers had already been laid before the court for fraud charges.
However, it is claimed that before SOCU could have accessed the computers with the associated data, the women had deleted the data. The women are said to be the only people who have access to the computers.
They were subsequently arrested and charged under the Cybercrime Act. Both defendants were placed on $ 150,000 bail and the matter was adjourned until May 6, 2021.