VENEZUELAN WOMEN FREED OF ALLEGED ATM SCAM

Three Venezuelan women who were charged with larceny of a Norwegian visitor’s Visa Card that was said to have been part of an alleged attempted money scam, were on Tuesday freed of the charges in the Scarborough Magistrates’ Court following a two-day trial. The charges against Jusilen Del Carmen Torrelas, 31; Yelitza Bortolin Coromoto Soto, 29; and Greismar Del Valle Lopez Yepez, 31, were dismissed by Senior Magistrate Annette McKenzie in the Scarborough First Court. The three were represented by defence attorney Lennox Phillips. They were charged under the Electronic Funds Crime Act (2000), by Detective Alicia Piggott, of the Crown Point Police, following investigations by Piggott and Detective PC Ingrid Maxwell, of the Port-of-Spain Fraud Squad. An alleged male accomplice, also of Venezuela, who was charged on September 13 at the Crown Point Police Station, with possession of one AMC Skimmer, a Toshiba Lap Top computer, and five floppy discs was remanded in custody. Jose Gregorio Ayala Mujica, 29, will reappear in court on September 25.

The charge against Jose, also laid by Detective Piggott, is that he was in possession of the Skimmer, Lap Top and floppy discs, with intent that such equipment be used in the manufacturing of counterfeit Bank Cards. The charges against the three women were that on September 6, last, at RBTT Bank, Crown Point, they “took from the possession of Oddbjorg Strommen, of Norway, a certain Card named a Skandia Banken Visa Card No 4569 9710 3568 5640, in favour of Oddbjorg Strommen, without the consent of Oddbjorg Strommen.”