Two men, who were accused of the 2021 multi-million dollar gold heist at Wallison Enterprise at Gordon Street, Kitty, Georgetown, were on Thursday freed due to insufficient evidence.

Delroy Jackson called “Bug” and Peon Lee called “Nino Brown” were on trial before Magistrate Rhondel Weever at the Georgetown Magistrate Court.

The pair denied that on August 5, 2021, while being armed with guns and in the company of others, they robbed Wallison Enterprise of $38 million in local currency and $20 million worth of raw gold, the property of Francis Santos Lumes.

The men also denied committing armed robbery against three persons: Fernanda Carmichael of a cell phone worth $350,000; Francis Santos Lumes of gold jewellery and cash amounting to $224,000; and William Batista DaSilva of a $60,000 cell phone.

The state was represented by special prosecutor Munian.

On Thursday, the men’s attorney, Dexter Smartt, submitted that the defence had no case to answer since the prosecutor failed to establish a case against his client.

The Magistrate agreed that the prosecution case lacked evidence and upheld Smartt’s submissions.

The News Room was made to understand that on Thursday, the prosecutor had only presented one witness, with an additional 15 witnesses still pending.

Smartt, during his application, pointed out the years the case had spent before the court and criticised the prosecution’s pace in handling the matter.

Magistrate Weever, in her ruling, underscored the detriment of prosecutors selectively choosing which witnesses to present on trial dates, characterising it as a disservice to the judicial process and an unfair delay tactic affecting the court and the defendants.

Two other accused in the case, Dequan King, called “Titus” and former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Sergeant Keyon King had confessed to the crime.

In August 2021, Keyon pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to serve three years imprisonment.

Meanwhile, in November 2022, Dequan, who had initially denied the charges, confessed and was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for his role in the crime.

On August 10, 2021, Lee along with Keyon King and the company’s security officer Jackson were charged jointly with three counts of robbery and remanded to prison.

In October 2022, Dequan King was nabbed by the authorities in Suriname and deported to Guyana.

He had previously told the court that he was not involved in the robbery but only transported the men since they were passengers in his taxi.

According to him, he became fearful for his life and fled to Suriname after a wanted bulletin was issued for his arrest.

However, while in Suriname, King said he was involved in a “crime” and was arrested.

Due to his arrest, local authorities were notified, and King was extradited to Guyana.

Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum, had told reporters that the plan was allegedly hatched by Lee, who, at the time, was the company’s Chief of Security.

The entire incident was captured on CCTV cameras. Police made a breakthrough in this investigation following the discovery of a total of $18M which was found buried in Keyon King’s backyard.