The Appeal Court has reversed the decision of a High Court judge who had ordered the immediate release of a Surinamese-born Dutch national awaiting extradition to Singapore to face four fraud charges. In an oral decision delivered at the Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, the three appellate judges said they disagreed with the judge’s ruling that the detention of Amarnath Jagmohan was unlawful.
As part of their ruling, they reinstated the order committing Jagmohan to custody to await his extradition, which was issued by Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar last October. The appeal was filed by state attorneys in January after Justice Carol Gobin ordered Jagmohan’s release and granted him bail.
Gobin had agreed with Jagmohan’s lawyer David West, who submitted that some of the documents from authorities from Singapore used in his client’s extradition proceedings were inadmissible as they had not been properly certified and were missing a photograph. She granted Jagmohan $350,000 bail but he was unable to access it and remained in custody.
Justices Allan Mendonca, Peter Jamadar and Gregory Smith, who sat on the appeal panel, said the documents were sufficiently certified and the photograph was not necessary as Jagmohan never raised the issue of mistaken identity in the proceedings. The judges also ordered Jagmohan to pay two thirds of the State’s legal costs for the appeal. Senior Counsel Pamela Elder and attorney Wayne Sturge represented the State. Ria Reyes appeared alongside West for Jagmohan.
Why he is wanted
Jagmohan, 52, was born in Suriname but is a citizen of the Netherlands. It is alleged that sometime in May 2003, he visited several moneylenders in Singapore and attempted to change counterfeit euros for Singapore dollars and was also found in possession of counterfeit euros. Jagmohan was charged in Singapore but fled the country before his trial while on bail. He was held in T&T last January 29 under a provisional warrant of arrest.