Two accused in sand theft charged
THE police yesterday charged the principals of Bedrock Aggregates, Devon Sterling and Christopher Pryce, with larceny and breaches of the Quarries Control Act, in connection with the alleged theft of 500 truckloads of sand from a prime beachfront property in Coral Springs, Trelawny.
Both men will spend the weekend behind bars after police yesterday refused them station bail despite the efforts of their attorney, Tom Tavares-Finson.
“They were denied station bail despite my attempts,” the defence lawyer told the Observer.
Pryce and Sterling, who were arrested Thursday when cops raided the Corporate Area headquarters of Bedrock Aggregate, are scheduled to appear before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
A third man who was arrested in Trelawny has not yet been charged, while the police yesterday reported that an attorney representing a fourth suspect had contacted them and arranged for him to be interviewed on Monday.
In the meantime, a highly placed government source told the Observer that Thursday’s arrests were only the tip of the iceberg.
“.There are several other persons, such as sub-contractors, who are involved and there might be more arrests as the days go by. This is big business involving tens of millions of dollars so big names might get called,” the source said.
Officers from the Organised Crime Investigative Division (OCID) said yesterday that they were still hunting several other persons in connection with the stolen sand.
Meanwhile, Daryl Vaz, minister of state in the Office of the Prime Minister, said the government would not interfere with the ongoing probe, despite rumours that the relative of an influential member of the administration may be involved in the theft of the sand.
“Let the chips fall where they may. The government will not get involved in the probe other than to give the relevant agencies the resources to deal with it,” Vaz said.
The sand was stolen in July from a 64-acre beachfront property at Coral Springs near Duncans in Trelawny, forcing the developers, Felicitas Limited, to call off a proposed $8-billion development, for which the beach would be the centrepiece.
