A woman who is accused of conducting a fake oil and gas training course was today slapped with 17 fraud charges.
Simone Fortune of Canje Berbice appeared before Magistrate Renita Singh in the New Amsterdam Magistrates’ Court to answer to the charges.
Fortune pleaded not guilty to the charges, which alleged that between January 17 and January 20, 2020, at Pitt Street New Amsterdam Berbice, she obtained $160,000 from 17 individuals under false pretense.
She was granted bail in the sum of $680,000, and the case was adjourned until January 26, 2021.
Reports are that Fortune operates the Inland and Offshore Recruiting and Clearing Agency (IORCA) and, in January, advertised training courses for Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) for seafarers.
After about six months, one of the men who enrolled in the course went to the Transport and Harbours Department, who informed him that the only accredited school in Guyana for seamen’s affairs is in Georgetown.
Shocked and surprised, the man went and lodged a report to the New Amsterdam Police Station, and an investigation was launched. A number of other men came forward alleging that they have paid and participated in the course.
It was reported that Fortune then emailed the certificates to the participants, but when the men inquired, the university informed them that the certificate was fake and invalid.
