Chateau Margot robbery… Bandit aids in his own capture

Feb 16, 2017 News

…after posing Whatsapp photo of himself on victim’s phone  

Suspect: Kevin France

Investigators had an easy task in locating the suspected driver, who along with his gang trailed a woman from a city bank to her Chateau Margot, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home and robbed her of $6M at gunpoint on January 31, last.
The suspect who has been identified as 29-year-old Kevin France, of 708 East Ruimveldt, Georgetown was arrested yesterday after police ranks were made aware of his identity. He was in the company of two others in a car in the vicinity of Bourda Market when he was arrested.
Kaieteur News understands that France, who was freed of murder in 2015 committed on Patsan’s Trading salesman, Bharrat Ramcharran, back in April, 2014, was with a gang that robbed Indranie Budhu in front of her Lot 31 Chateau Margot home.
The 29-year-old man, who was in possession of the victim’s phone, posted a photograph of himself on her Whatsapp account. It was as a result of this that the police were able to determine that he was a part of the robbery.
When a new Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card is placed in a cellular phone, it has to be linked to Whatsapp before the number is registered. If the new SIM is not linked to the phone, then the old number remains active on Whatsapp, even without the SIM card.
Apparently, France was not aware of this and did not link his new SIM to the Whatsapp account before posting a photograph of himself on the victim’s profile—It was as a result of this that he was arrested.
Reports are that he was also wanted for a number of other robberies.
Kaieteur News understands that after withdrawing the money from the bank, the woman called a taxi to take her home.
The woman said that she and her husband were going to purchase a plot of land so she went to the bank to withdraw the cash.
“My husband was supposed to come pick me up but after I couldn’t get onto him, I called the taxi and when it reached, I tell the driver to come in the bank and collect me because I got money on me,” the woman recalled.
She explained that once she got into the car, she locked the doors and looked around for suspicious movements as she was heading home in the car but noticed nothing unusual.
“I saw nothing suspicious. When the driver dropped me off, I walked in the yard and then this man approached me and tried to grab the bag but my husband was in the work shop and I throw the bag at him, but the gunmen run to him, hit him in the head and collect the bag,” the woman said.
She explained that as she was running out of her yard, she saw the gunman running behind her with the bag and grabbed onto it.
“He hit me on my hand and he was going to take my bangles but I asked him if he wanted fake gold too and he collect the bag and runaway,” the devastated woman related.
She said the men escaped in a grey Toyota Allion bearing registration number HB 5059.
The gunmen also escaped with two passports, both with US visas belonging to the woman and her husband.