(CMR) Accountant Fernando Mota Mendes was successful in having eight of 12 counts dismissed in the Grand Court in relation to dishonestly obtaining money or cash by falsely representing that he was entitled to the rental income from the Pink Beach House.
According to a judgment issued in the application to dismiss, those counts were carefully reconsidered by the prosecution, and it was ultimately accepted by the Prosecution that there was an insufficiency of evidence in relation to the eight.
During the course of the oral submissions, the ambit of the application was significantly reduced as the Crown accepted that there was insufficient evidence to proceed on eight (8) Counts–Counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, & Therefore, four (4) Counts remained on the indictment–Counts 7, 9,11 and 12, the court document stated.
According to the judgment, it became clear during the course of oral submissions that one of the WhatsApp messages was effectively the tipping point in this case–in the sense that the Crown accepted that, before that date, Mendes had been entitled to act on behalf of the owners in terms of renting the property.
That position was arrived at because the owner of the property, in her first statement, denied that Mendes had any authority whatsoever to rent the property or have any dealings with the rent. However, following that, the owner made a subsequent statement resiling from that position, saying that it was clear from a WhatsApp message when she told Mendes to direct everyone to a female named Karen from that point.
Justice St John-Stevens ruled that the application by the defense is upheld, but only in terms of the Crown accepting the insufficiencies of the evidence in the eight (8) counts identified. The application by the Defense is rejected in relation to Counts 7, 9, 11 & 12.
Mrs. Lee Halliday-Davis represented Mendes in the application for dismissal. Mendes has since pleaded not guilty in the remaining four counts and is expected to be tried on 17 July.
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