Chinese Nationals fined for attempting to use illegal permit

Sep 07, 2017 News

… had been deported twice

These Chinese Nationals were deported twice. They were fined for attempting to use an illegal permit

Eight Chinese Nationals-five men and three women– who were deported twice from Guyana within a month but managed to make their way back into the country from Suriname, were yesterday fined $70,000 each, with an alternative of eight weeks in prison for attempting to use an illegal permit.
Appearing before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan were Aihua Wang, Bin Ya, Jun Qing Ma, Zhong Guo Wu, Xiaoha Zheng, Lin Hong, Zhangcheng Wang and Ganlin Feng.
They pleaded guilty to the charge which alleged that on September 1, last, they attempted to use a permit which had not been issued by the Immigration Department of Guyana, which they were not entitled to use. The Chinese Nationals will be escorted to the nearest port of exit after paying the fines or serving the default prison term.
Police Prosecutor, Arvin Moore, told the court that they arrived in Guyana on August 22, last, from Suriname using the back track route at Springlands, Corentyne, Berbice.
Moore said that they boarded a minibus and headed for Georgetown but the bus was intercepted by police ranks at a road block at Fort Wellington, West Coast Berbice. According to the prosecutor, upon checking the Chinese Nationals’ Republic of China passports it was discovered that they had entered Guyana illegally.
They were arrested and taken to the Central Immigration and Passport Office. They were later arraigned at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court where they were each fined $20,000 after pleading guilty to illegally entering the country.
The prosecutor further disclosed that they were handed over to police at the Moleson Creek Immigration Authority and were deported to Suriname.
But after arriving in Suriname, they visited the Guyana Consulate where they applied for a tourist visa. They came to Guyana again on August 30.
On September 1, police acting on information went to the Sleep Inn Hotel, in the city, where the Chinese Nationals were found to be staying. Upon producing their passport to police, it was observed that all of them had tourist visas and deportation stamps.
They were escorted to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown where contact was made with the Guyana Consulate in Suriname. Records showed that the Chinese Nationals were never issued with visas from the consulate.
However, the Chinese Nationals claimed that their passports were stamped by a man in Suriname.
Nevertheless, Prosecutor Moore said that they were charged based on advice from the Director of Public Prosecution and that the deportation order was in effect for 12 months.
Attorney-at-Law Paul Fung-a-Fat who represented them maintained that his clients’ visas were issued by the Guyana Consulate in Suriname. He pleaded with the Chief Magistrate to not send them to jail because they will be taken “advantage of.”

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