Today Newspaper St. Maarten

Forged signature gets car rental owner in hot water

St. Maarten – Laurent U., a 26-year-old owner of a car rental company did not think much of it when he forged the signature of a now former friend on a bill of sale for a Jeep he bought from him in November of last year. But when he fell behind with his payments, the friend filed a complaint at a 1-month conditional prison sentence with 2 years of probation and 60 hours of community service.
Prosecutor mr. Dounia Benammar made clear in the Court in First Instance yesterday that the defendant’s action simply came down to forgery. U. said that he had put a false signature.
“It smells like fiddling,” the prosecutor said. “You should not have done that.”
Attorney Michael Snijder told the court that his client and the seller of the car were friends at the time of the sale. “The purchase agreement is not false,” he said. “My client simply forgot to put i/o (at the order of – ed.) in front of his signature.”
mr. Snijder said that his client had made payments on the car until January. “Only on February 3 did the seller file a complaint, only because there were payment arrears. He only wants to take the jeep back, but now there is still a charge for forgery.”
mr. Snijder asked the court, if it arrives at a guilty verdict, to make the community service conditional.
Prosecutor Bennamar pointed out that the defendant had not put his own signature under the seller’s name but a signature that was designed to represent the seller.
Judge Tamara Tijhuis will pronounce her verdict next week Wednesday.