ONE out of three men who were held at the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) on April 30 appeared virtually before a Master of the High Court, charged with uttering forged documents and denied bail.

A media release sent on May 8 said Corey Sutherland, 44, of Edinburgh 500, appeared on May 6, and the matter was postponed to June 3.

On April 30, two contractors told police they were contacted by a man purporting himself to be an employee of HDC. The man invited the contractors to bid for a contract to construct homes in the Couva district.

The man later told the contractors they had been awarded contracts. Both men gave the man a cheque drawn on the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development account for $828,104.64.

The money was for mobilisation, which was later found to be fraudulent. The contractors made a report to the police and the Fraud Squad launched an investigation into the matter.

A police statement sent on April 30 said two men visited HDC, PoS, with fraudulent documents bearing the forged signature of HDC managing director Jayselle McFarlane.

The head of HDC security was given the documents and became suspicious, he alerted the police, who were already on the compound and the two men were arrested by officers. A third man was arrested in the company’s car park in a waiting vehicle.

Fraud Squad urged the public, especially business owners, to be vigilant about fraudsters claiming to be employed with government ministries.

Wednesday's release said fraudsters are targeting registered business owners, whom they say are awarded contracts. They then ask the business owner to pay kickbacks in exchange.

The statement urged businesses to follow established procedures and processes with each ministry for the tendering and awarding of contracts.

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