Georgetown, Guyana – September 9, 2025 – Guyana’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) has won a significant legal battle after the High Court overturned a controversial ruling by Magistrate Delon Bess, who had dismissed three criminal charges against convicted fraudster Dave Rajeshwar Persaud. Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh on Monday granted judicial review orders in favour of SOCU, ruling that the Magistrate acted improperly and outside the law when he threw out the cases earlier this year.
The dispute began in May when SOCU prosecutors were informed by the Diamond Magistrate’s Court clerk that Magistrate Bess would not be presiding there on May 29, since he was scheduled to sit at the Leguan Magistrate’s Court that day. According to SOCU, prosecutors and the clerk agreed to adjourn the matters until June 27. But instead, while sitting in Leguan, Magistrate Bess joined the Diamond Court via Zoom and proceeded with the cases against Persaud, who appeared remotely from Lusignan prison. With no SOCU prosecutor present, Bess dismissed the charges.
When SOCU turned up in court on the rescheduled date of June 27, they discovered the cases had already been thrown out. The Unit immediately moved to the High Court, arguing that the Magistrate’s actions were illegal, irrational, and violated the principles of natural justice. Chief Justice Singh agreed, finding that Bess had no jurisdiction to hear matters from a different magisterial district and that, at the very least, he should have verified with his clerk why the prosecution was absent before making such a drastic decision.
“The Learned Magistrate’s decision to determine the matters in a different magisterial district was wholly improper,” the ruling stated, ordering that the dismissals be quashed and the cases restored. SOCU was represented in court by Attorney-at-Law and Prosecutor David Brathwaite.
SOCU Head, Deputy Commissioner Fazil Karimbaksh, said it was “unfortunate” that the agency had to take court action to correct what he described as a clear breach of the rules of justice. “Magistrates are creatures of statute and cannot arbitrarily and without jurisdiction make pronouncements which are contrary to the law,” Karimbaksh said. He emphasised that accountability in the justice system must be upheld at every level: “Justice must not only be done, but it must appear to have been done, not only for the accused person, but also for the victim.”
The ruling marks a rare instance of a magistrate’s decision being overturned in such strong terms and highlights the continuing scrutiny on the judiciary as SOCU pursues high-profile financial crimes. Persaud, already convicted in a separate fraud matter, will now face the reinstated charges as the case returns to the lower courts.
