AG aids return of $5.5m fraud accused
…On 69 charges, held in Canada after fleeing
Attorney General Anand Ramlogan has “successfully facilitated” the return of Trinidadian Raymond Francis from Canada to face a $5.5 million fraud charge in this country.
Francis is wanted in Tobago regarding 69 unrelated criminal tax offences.
In a release issued yesterday, Ramlogan said on Monday, December 30, Francis, escorted by two officers of the Fraud Squad, returned to Trinidad on Caribbean Airlines flight number 611, at 11.15 p.m.
Francis is wanted in Trinidad in relation to a criminal offence stemming from the alleged forgery of a letter from the Sport and Culture Fund, which contained instructions for the transfer of the sum of $5.5 million into an account held jointly in the names of Raymond Francis and his wife, Gail Francis.
The alleged offence is said to have taken place during the period March 21-22, 2013, when the monies were received into the said account.
A local warrant of arrest was issued for Raymond Francis on July 23rd, 2013. However local authorities were unable to execute this as it was discovered Francis and his wife had left the jurisdiction for Canada.
Gail Francis subsequently returned to Trinidad and was immediately arrested. But Raymond Francis remained in Canada.
On October 8, 2013, the Central Authority Unit, under the direction of the Attorney General, forwarded a request to Canada for the issuance of a provisional warrant of arrest for Francis, pending the submission of a formal extradiction request. Francis was subsequently arrested by the Canadian authorities on November 12, 2013. ...READ MORE