Chief Inspector Rakijo sentenced for embezzling shrimp

Chief Inspector Robert Rakijo, former police chief of the Western Region, was given a suspended prison sentence on Monday. He was also given a 3-year probation period. Judge Siegline Wijnhard sentenced the defendant in accordance with the prosecution’s demand. The defendant who was already out of jail does not have to return to prison because he has already served the prison term. He was found guilty of the embezzlement of a batches of shrimp.

Judge Wijnhard agreed with Defense Attorney Irvin Kanhai who had explained to the court that this was not a case of theft of shrimp but she did deem embezzlement proven. The shrimp had been confiscated on June 22 and July 18, 2015 by order of Rakijo. The defendant then instructed one of his subordinates to write a report, claiming that the shrimp had gone bad. The shrimp were most likely sold on June 22 but it is not clear what had happened to the batch that was confiscated on July 18. Wijnhard pointed out that the then chief inspector had sent Whatsapp messages to the then attorney general to discuss the fate of the suspect who had been caught with the shrimp. She also pointed out that there is no general policy for the fines that are collected by the police. Reports indicate that Rakijo deposited the fines from June and July 2015 in August. The judge pointed out that this could create the impression that something suspicious was going on. Rakijo had reportedly failed to mention that fines still needed to be deposited. Nevertheless it was not proven that fines were embezzled.

Defense Attorney Arjan Ramlakhan who filled in for Kanhai announced that the defense team would lodge an appeal.