Accused: Simone Fortune

Simone Fortune, the East Canje woman of Berbice, who is accused of dumping several sailors into a fake oil and gas training program, was slapped on 17 criminal charges on Wednesday.
The woman appeared before Magistrate Renita Singh at New Amsterdam Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday. According to the prosecution case, between December 2019 and March 2020, he received the sum of $ 1.9M from 17 people by falsely pretending he could provide training and give sailors certificates.
Fortune pleaded not guilty to all seventeen charges.
Attorney-at-law Ryan Crawford, who represented Fortune, in a bail application, told the court that Fortune is not a flight risk, and added that she had been operating her business for the past five to six years. She added that her client had been recognized by a relevant authority as she had received over 200 people accredited by her agency and were currently employed with those certificates. He added that his client is not the person issuing the certificates, but rather the accredited agency in Panama.
“All you need to do is issue certificates from Panama. We will show the Court that Miss Fortune is not guilty of these allegations, and we ask that Miss Fortune be placed on a reasonable bill so we can convince the case, ”he said in a bill request.
Crawford also informed the Court that the relevant certificates may be available during the proceedings.
Meanwhile, Police Prosecutor Inspector Althea Solomon informed the court that while the prosecution does not object to bail, it is asking the defendant to report to the Central Police Station on a weekly basis pending trial.
Magistrate Singh set Fortune on bail in the amount of $ 40,000 on each of the charges, bringing the total to $ 680,000. As a condition of bail, Fortune is required to present her passport, and will have to report to the Central Police Station in New Amsterdam every Friday until the case is completed and determined. The case will continue on January 26.

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