Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 06/Oct 19:50

Vicky Boodram bids to get bail on escaping custody charge

FORMER travel agent Vicky Boodram is set to renew her bail application on October 7 when she returns before the High Court in San Fernando on a charge of escaping lawful custody. Boodram, also known as Victoria Samlalsingh, is expected to ask the court to vary her existing bail, arguing that she has already served the maximum possible sentence for the offence. Central to her arguments is that Section 4 of the Criminal Offences Act limits the penalty for escaping lawful custody to three years, a period that has long passed since her arrest in 2016. Court extracts show that in March 2021, then–Senior Magistrate Brambhanan Dubay fixed her bail at $40,000. On September 30, her attorney, Stephen Wilson of the Public Defenders Department, made an application for Boodram’s bail. The state resisted the application, and Master Rehanna Hosein ordered submissions on why she should not be released on bail. Hosein is expected to rule on Boodram’s application. According to the indictment against her and three others, filed in May 2025, it is alleged that on November 27, 2017, Boodram escaped from the Golden Grove Women’s Prison in Arouca while on remand. Police officers Levon Sylvester and Lisa Navarro are accused of aiding her escape and face separate charges of misconduct in public office for allegedly using a fraudulent court document to secure her release. Boodram’s friend, Roxanne Cudjoe, is also charged in connection with the incident, accused of assisting Boodram days later in Penal to avoid recapture. A summons was issued for Sylvester, who reportedly cannot be found. On September 19, High Court Master Lisa Singh-Phillip dismissed more than 100 fraud charges against Boodram after prosecutors missed three deadlines to file witness statements and other evidence. Singh-Phillip was told it would be unfair to continue proceedings against Boodram under the circumstances. Wilson had applied for Boodram’s discharge, and Singh-Phillip granted the request under section 5.9(5) of the Criminal Procedure Rules, 2023. Boodram, the owner of the defunct Boodram Travel and Ship Ahoy Cruises Ltd, had been accused of defrauding clients of more than $1 million in payments for a 2011 cruise that never took place. She was initially charged with 109 fraud-related offences, but two counts were dismissed when the victims died. She also faced two money laundering charges linked to the purchase of a Mercedes-Benz and a Palmiste property worth more than $2 million. Her case was transferred to the High Court in March 2024. In October 2019, Boodram and her estranged husband, Ravi Arjoonsingh, were committed to stand trial before the San Fernando court on 107 fraud charges. However, their cases were separated. Public Defender Janeil Chuck also represents Boodram. The post Vicky Boodram bids to get bail on escaping custody charge appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.