Kidnap victim charged with receiving stolen goods

A FORMER kidnap victim appeared before a Port-of-Spain magistrate yesterday charged with receiving stolen goods. Appearing before Magistrate Gillian David was 44-year-old Premnath Geelal of El Socorro Road, San Juan. The charge read that between May 28 and June 9, Geelal received 13 bails of Soft Crest toilet paper, the property of Roger Lee Pak. The charge was laid by Constable Ricky Holman of the Barataria Police Station after a report was made by the owner of the stolen goods. Reports state that Lee Pak, the owner of House of Paper Ltd in El Socorro, parked a container with 500 cases of toilet paper on May 28 and returned on June 2 to find the container empty.

After being charged on Wednesday evening, Geelal was granted bail with surety in the sum of $25,000, which had been set by a Justice of the Peace. Representing Geelal yesterday was attorney Patrick Godson-Philips. The matter was adjourned to September 21. On March 25, 2002, Geelal was snatched outside his business place, Geelal’s Dry Goods, on El Socorro Road, San Juan. He escaped his abductors a day later, after a $1 million dollar ransom was demanded for his safe return. His son, 13-year-old Gewan Geelal, was also kidnapped in April, 2003. A $300,000 ransom was made by his kidnappers for his release, a part of which was reportedly paid by the Geelal family.