Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle on Tuesday remanded a labourer to prison after he was accused of attempting to purchase over $1M in electrical items from a city store using a fake cheque.
Thirty-year-old Zaheer Abdool, called Sheik Ally, of Middle Road, La Penitence, pleaded not guilty to the charges of endeavouring to obtain upon a forged instrument and uttering a forged document.
It is alleged that on December 14, with intent to defraud, Abdool tried to obtain two air conditioning units and other articles together valued $1,139,380, upon or by virtue of a forged cheque purportedly issued by ScotiaBank, knowing same to be forged. On the same day he allegedly uttered the forged cheque to Monalisa Joyeux of Supreme Electronics Store.
Abdool, who was unrepresented in court, in his defence said his employer, a contractor, sent him with three cheques to uplift some beverages. He said he only handed over the cheques to the person at the store and collected the items which he then took to his boss's Friendship home, in the vehicle that was given to him to conduct the errands. Abdool said that after unloading the items, he left and went back to work.
However, Police Prosecutor Sherwin Matthews told the court that on the said day Abdool went to the store and ordered the items mentioned in the charge. He paid for them using a ScotiaBank cheque but he was asked to return the following day to uplift the items. Matthews said that when he returned, an employee noticed some irregularities on the cheque and the sale was stopped. The man was later arrested, Matthews said.
"This is not the first time that he is being charged with this type of offence," Matthews said adding that Abdool was accused of obtaining $500,000 for a visa transaction but the charge was dismissed. The prosecutor added that on that occasion the man was charged under the name Sheik Ally. Matthews objected to bail being granted on the grounds that Abdool may use the opportunity to commit more serious offences.
Meanwhile, Abdool, again in his defence, said that the police don't want to go to his employer's residence to investigate his claims.
He was ordered to appear in Court Three on January 14.
http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_courts?id=56535527
Saturday, December 22, 2007
At last, an end in sight for the brawl over S&N
ime, gentlemen, please. The Takeover Panel has set a justifiably tight timetable for Carlsberg and Heineken to make a formal bid for Scottish & Newcastle, the drinks group, or walk away. Both sides welcomed the January 21 deadline on Monday, though it is bound to disrupt a few people’s holiday plans over Christmas and new year. Shareholders should welcome it, too. Not only is the status of a key asset – Baltic Beverages Holding, the Carlsberg-S&N joint venture in Russia – in dispute, the two sides have been at loggerheads since the consortium made its first approach in October. Without Panel intervention, the war of words could drag on for months.
The case for S&N to show a little seasonal goodwill towards its suitors rests on the fact that its share price is trading below the 750p value of the consortium’s indicative offer. It would surely fall if Carlsberg and Heineken withdrew, unless SABMiller is genuinely interested. But S&N would then redouble its legal effort to get control of BBH, or realise the value of its stake by auctioning it.
The real worth of that venture is a matter of conjecture as long as Carlsberg refuses to allow S&N to release information about the venture’s growth, market share and margin and price trends. But at the same time, investors have only S&N’s word that its arbitration claim over BBH is as strong as the British company says. More details, due next month, could help shareholders judge the likelihood of success in the Swedish courts. For now, they are not putting pressure on the S&N board.
For outsiders, then, this is a bit like watching two drunks locked in a brawl: plenty of insults are being exchanged – and a few flailing punches – but each party is really waiting for the other to keel over.
Wacky race for the Tote
The government’s attempt to run the sale of the Tote as a one-horse race on a hobbled mount is limping to an all-too-predictable finish. It now looks as though the state-owned betting agency will have to be sold on the open market – which is how this should have been handled all along.
Action replay: the government, handicapped by a 2001 election promise that a “Racing Trust” would be the best owner, tries to sell the Tote at “fair value” to a management-led consortium. The European Commission says No. Government returns with a proposal to sell to the consortium at “market value”, only to balk at the involvement of “private equity” in the form of Lloyds TSB. The consortium’s first offer is then cut, as turbulent markets erode the debt financing. Now – having come, racecourse-style, full circle – the government has decided that Brussels would still frown on a cut-price sale because at least one rival private-sector bidder, Gala Coral, remains ready to enter the running.
This odd privatisation again reflects badly on the government’s attitude to markets – either rushing headlong into the private sector’s embrace (Qinetiq), or shunning a market solution until too late. It would be embarrassing if, having finally got potential buyers under starter’s orders for a proper race for the Tote, the government found that conditions had deteriorated to the point that it was forced to sell the agency at a knockdown price anyway.
None of this bodes well for the correct handling of the mess that is Northern Rock, which presents a far more complex mix of private-sector and public-interest considerations than the sale of the Tote ever did. Steward’s inquiry, please.
Fine outcome for HMRC
Imagine the Financial Services Authority could fine HM Revenue & Customs for “not taking reasonable steps to keep [customers’] personal and financial information safe”. Norwich Union was hit with a £1.26m penalty on Monday for exposing some 6.8m customers to risk. HMRC lost the details of 25m – so how does a fine of £4.6m sound?
Let’s be fair, though, whereas fraudsters creamed £3.3m from Norwich Union policyholders, we don’t yet know if anybody suffered fraud as a result of the Revenue’s blunder. A better parallel was the theft of one of Nationwide’s data-filled laptops last year. The FSA said that had exposed the building society’s “failure to manage or monitor downloads of very large amounts of data onto portable storage devices”. Sounds familiar. Nationwide, with 11m customers, was fined £980,000. Rounded up, a penalty of £2.5m for our friends at the Revenue seems just. Their cheque, we hear, is in the post.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/123287fe-acdc-11dc-b51b-0000779fd2ac.html
The case for S&N to show a little seasonal goodwill towards its suitors rests on the fact that its share price is trading below the 750p value of the consortium’s indicative offer. It would surely fall if Carlsberg and Heineken withdrew, unless SABMiller is genuinely interested. But S&N would then redouble its legal effort to get control of BBH, or realise the value of its stake by auctioning it.
The real worth of that venture is a matter of conjecture as long as Carlsberg refuses to allow S&N to release information about the venture’s growth, market share and margin and price trends. But at the same time, investors have only S&N’s word that its arbitration claim over BBH is as strong as the British company says. More details, due next month, could help shareholders judge the likelihood of success in the Swedish courts. For now, they are not putting pressure on the S&N board.
For outsiders, then, this is a bit like watching two drunks locked in a brawl: plenty of insults are being exchanged – and a few flailing punches – but each party is really waiting for the other to keel over.
Wacky race for the Tote
The government’s attempt to run the sale of the Tote as a one-horse race on a hobbled mount is limping to an all-too-predictable finish. It now looks as though the state-owned betting agency will have to be sold on the open market – which is how this should have been handled all along.
Action replay: the government, handicapped by a 2001 election promise that a “Racing Trust” would be the best owner, tries to sell the Tote at “fair value” to a management-led consortium. The European Commission says No. Government returns with a proposal to sell to the consortium at “market value”, only to balk at the involvement of “private equity” in the form of Lloyds TSB. The consortium’s first offer is then cut, as turbulent markets erode the debt financing. Now – having come, racecourse-style, full circle – the government has decided that Brussels would still frown on a cut-price sale because at least one rival private-sector bidder, Gala Coral, remains ready to enter the running.
This odd privatisation again reflects badly on the government’s attitude to markets – either rushing headlong into the private sector’s embrace (Qinetiq), or shunning a market solution until too late. It would be embarrassing if, having finally got potential buyers under starter’s orders for a proper race for the Tote, the government found that conditions had deteriorated to the point that it was forced to sell the agency at a knockdown price anyway.
None of this bodes well for the correct handling of the mess that is Northern Rock, which presents a far more complex mix of private-sector and public-interest considerations than the sale of the Tote ever did. Steward’s inquiry, please.
Fine outcome for HMRC
Imagine the Financial Services Authority could fine HM Revenue & Customs for “not taking reasonable steps to keep [customers’] personal and financial information safe”. Norwich Union was hit with a £1.26m penalty on Monday for exposing some 6.8m customers to risk. HMRC lost the details of 25m – so how does a fine of £4.6m sound?
Let’s be fair, though, whereas fraudsters creamed £3.3m from Norwich Union policyholders, we don’t yet know if anybody suffered fraud as a result of the Revenue’s blunder. A better parallel was the theft of one of Nationwide’s data-filled laptops last year. The FSA said that had exposed the building society’s “failure to manage or monitor downloads of very large amounts of data onto portable storage devices”. Sounds familiar. Nationwide, with 11m customers, was fined £980,000. Rounded up, a penalty of £2.5m for our friends at the Revenue seems just. Their cheque, we hear, is in the post.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/123287fe-acdc-11dc-b51b-0000779fd2ac.html
Gardener revels in winter
Warm beverages, crisp mountain apples, homemade treats and a cozy place to relax after a hearty meal. It makes one think about curling up with loved ones on a frosty winter night.
That's a beautiful image. But how about a place where wild creatures can find those same comforts? Most gardeners tend to think of winter as a time when nothing much happens in their gardens, but Raleigh garden designer Helen Yoest says her winter garden has as much interest and excitement as in any other season. Maybe more.
Yoest's wildlife garden -- an eclectic mix of formal areas, cottage chic and practicality -- is a popular gathering place for her family and friends all year. It has also caught the attention of national gardening magazines. Horticulture and Fine Gardening have scheduled articles about the garden Yoest shares with her husband, David Philbrook, and their three children, 11-year-old Lara Rose, 7-year-old Lily Ana and 6-year-old Michael Aster Philbrook.
Yoest, who also leads the volunteer team that maintains the winter garden at the JC Raulston Arboretum, said, "There are many colors and textures that become highlighted in the winter. A tiny flower, competing with so many other colors and textures might go unnoticed other times, but in winter it can take your breath away."
Blooms of fragrant 'Winter Gold' Edgeworthia, early snowdrops (Galanthus woronowii), lemon-scented winter daphne, Prunus mume (flowering apricot), hardy cyclamen, camellias, contorted crabapple (Malus 'Red Jade'), and hellebores (Lenten rose) are just a few examples.
As deciduous plants go bare, a holiday color scheme in shades of green and red evolves in Yoest's garden. Red-stemmed weeping willow (Scarlet Curls Salix matsudana), sky pencil hollies, gardenia, Hinoki cypress, 'Regal Mist' muhly grass, creeping raspberry, yellow white pine, red twig dogwood, crimson nandinas, coral bark maple, flowering quince, variegated juniper 'Parsonii Variegata', ajuga 'Burgundy Glow', and winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata, 'Winter Red') all shine brightly in the winter scape.
The interesting textures of the 'Brown Turkey' fig, Harry Lauder walking stick, mahonia, Clematis armandii, Pieris japonica, climbing hydrangea, magnolias, smilax, Japanese maples and weeping cypress (Taxodium distichum 'Cascade Falls') are showcased, and also provide perching places and cover for the birds that fill her garden in winter.
When her expansive herbaceous perennial border goes to sleep, Yoest brings home cedar trees from the farmers market to fill the large empty space. She later recycles the cedar trunks, turning them into trellises and garden structures. But during the winter, the cedars are filled with ornaments for the birds. "Our kids are very active in helping make the bird food for the ornaments," she said.
"We also bring out all the bird feeders, buy suet cakes, and coat pine cones with peanut butter and roll them in seed and dried cranberries for color and good eats. My favorite part of the garden is hearing and seeing the birds take flight as I walk down the path."
After elaborately decorating the front garden and the house, Yoest tops off her winter landscape by turning a massive three-tiered fountain into a fruit buffet for the birds.
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/844360.html
That's a beautiful image. But how about a place where wild creatures can find those same comforts? Most gardeners tend to think of winter as a time when nothing much happens in their gardens, but Raleigh garden designer Helen Yoest says her winter garden has as much interest and excitement as in any other season. Maybe more.
Yoest's wildlife garden -- an eclectic mix of formal areas, cottage chic and practicality -- is a popular gathering place for her family and friends all year. It has also caught the attention of national gardening magazines. Horticulture and Fine Gardening have scheduled articles about the garden Yoest shares with her husband, David Philbrook, and their three children, 11-year-old Lara Rose, 7-year-old Lily Ana and 6-year-old Michael Aster Philbrook.
Yoest, who also leads the volunteer team that maintains the winter garden at the JC Raulston Arboretum, said, "There are many colors and textures that become highlighted in the winter. A tiny flower, competing with so many other colors and textures might go unnoticed other times, but in winter it can take your breath away."
Blooms of fragrant 'Winter Gold' Edgeworthia, early snowdrops (Galanthus woronowii), lemon-scented winter daphne, Prunus mume (flowering apricot), hardy cyclamen, camellias, contorted crabapple (Malus 'Red Jade'), and hellebores (Lenten rose) are just a few examples.
As deciduous plants go bare, a holiday color scheme in shades of green and red evolves in Yoest's garden. Red-stemmed weeping willow (Scarlet Curls Salix matsudana), sky pencil hollies, gardenia, Hinoki cypress, 'Regal Mist' muhly grass, creeping raspberry, yellow white pine, red twig dogwood, crimson nandinas, coral bark maple, flowering quince, variegated juniper 'Parsonii Variegata', ajuga 'Burgundy Glow', and winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata, 'Winter Red') all shine brightly in the winter scape.
The interesting textures of the 'Brown Turkey' fig, Harry Lauder walking stick, mahonia, Clematis armandii, Pieris japonica, climbing hydrangea, magnolias, smilax, Japanese maples and weeping cypress (Taxodium distichum 'Cascade Falls') are showcased, and also provide perching places and cover for the birds that fill her garden in winter.
When her expansive herbaceous perennial border goes to sleep, Yoest brings home cedar trees from the farmers market to fill the large empty space. She later recycles the cedar trunks, turning them into trellises and garden structures. But during the winter, the cedars are filled with ornaments for the birds. "Our kids are very active in helping make the bird food for the ornaments," she said.
"We also bring out all the bird feeders, buy suet cakes, and coat pine cones with peanut butter and roll them in seed and dried cranberries for color and good eats. My favorite part of the garden is hearing and seeing the birds take flight as I walk down the path."
After elaborately decorating the front garden and the house, Yoest tops off her winter landscape by turning a massive three-tiered fountain into a fruit buffet for the birds.
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/844360.html
Arabic coffee divide.
Coffee drinkers in the United Arab Emirates say the nation’s traditional beverage is losing out to coffee from overseas markets. While consumers said the Arabic coffee, flavoured with cardamom and served with dates, is important to their heritage, it does not offer the variety of flavours and beverage styles of its Western counterparts.
Marketing and atmosphere also seem to be key considerations, with customers appreciating the privacy and appealing designs in modern coffee outlets. Traditional Arabic coffee shops are noisy, and often a venue for shisha tobacco to be smoked.
Consumers point to a need for establishments that serve modern and traditional styles of coffee. Local coffee shops have indicated this may be a possibility, with one international chain offering date flavoured coffees in their Middle Eastern stores in response to demand during Ramadan.
http://www.gilkatho.com.au/news/default.asp?cmd=view&articleid=640
Marketing and atmosphere also seem to be key considerations, with customers appreciating the privacy and appealing designs in modern coffee outlets. Traditional Arabic coffee shops are noisy, and often a venue for shisha tobacco to be smoked.
Consumers point to a need for establishments that serve modern and traditional styles of coffee. Local coffee shops have indicated this may be a possibility, with one international chain offering date flavoured coffees in their Middle Eastern stores in response to demand during Ramadan.
http://www.gilkatho.com.au/news/default.asp?cmd=view&articleid=640
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)