‘No proof’ Romanian woman knew of scam

(CNS): A local defence attorney said the crown had offered no real evidence that her client knew anything at all about her boyfriend’s plans to rip off local ATM machines when they visited Cayman on what she thought was a romantic holiday. But the prosecution said the judge trying the case “could draw the inescapable conclusion” that Mariana Oprinou was party to the conspiracy of a criminal gang to steal cash using cloned credit cards based on the circumstantial evidence.

Cayman Islands courthouse, George Town

As Toyin Salako summed up her case for the judge against the Romanian woman Friday, she said Oprinou should be found guilty as there was evidence which inferred her guilt. But defense attorney Amelia Fosuhene said there was no actual proof to support the crown’s claims.

Opriniou, who is understood to work as an escort, was accused of being part of a conspiracy involving her boyfriend Florin Roata, Roland Pop and Ianaca Vismas, who have all pleaded guilty to the cloned card scam, and a fourth man who was never apprehended.

The prosecution said Opriniou knew about the conspiracy and was in the agreement with Roata and the other men because she had traveled on the same plane from Europe to Jamaica before coming to Cayman with the man believed to be the ringleader of the cloned cards scam, though they did not sit together.

Giving evidence on his girlfriend’s behalf, Roata said the ringleader of the crimes was an acquaintance of his, and in Jamaica he had proposed the scam. He said that the ringleader was the one who introduced him to Vismas and Pop. But Salako said it could not have been a coincidence that all of the parties ended up in Jamaica before the crime. She claimed it was planned from the beginning when the group was in Europe and the group’s arrival in Cayman was staggered deliberately so as to not arouse suspicion.

When Opriniou and Roata arrived in Cayman, customs searched their suitcases as the couple had been flagged but they found very little money. The prosecution claimed the cash the couple had when they were arrested was stolen. The police also found the cloned cards in a laundry bag, codes for the cards on strips of paper in Opriniou’s bra and cash rolled up in a pair of jeans.

Roata said he had hidden items in Opriniou’s things because he did not think the maid would go through them. The court also heard that Opriniou had breast implants so rarely wore her bras. But the crown argued that if Opriniou was innocent, Roata was taking a huge risk hiding compromising evidence where she could find it so she must have known and even helped in concealing the evidence.

“It is inconceivable that substantial cash from the conspiracy would be left in possession of a non-conspirator who has free access to it, had she not known,” Salako claimed as she invited the judge to find her guilty.

Defense attorney Amelia Fosuhene said Opriniou had no knowledge or involvement in the matter. She stated that from the beginning when the couple was arrested, Roata maintained that Opriniou had nothing to do with the crimes he admits to committing. Fosuhene said both Roata and Opriniou have been consistent in their account. He also made it clear that in his country is wasn’t the custom to tell a woman a man’s business.

Roata and Opriniou were in a relationship, so it wasn’t out of place that they travelled together on a vacation, Fosuhene noted. The fact they were on the plane with the alleged ringleader doesn’t mean that Opriniou knew about the conspiracy. She said the crown was inferring guilt without poof. Few facts had been checked during the investigation, the lawyer said, or notes taken by the officers who searched the couple’s bags.

When in Jamaica and Cayman Roata had left Opriniou now and then and covered it up by telling her he was going to buy cigarettes. He told the court that this was when he met up with the ringleader, Vismas and Pop to conspire. There was no suggestion that when Roata left the hotel, Opriniou went with him. Numerous text messages sent from Opriniou’s phone when they were in Cayman, verified and translated by the interpreter who assisted on the case, showed the woman asking where Roata was, which the defence attorney said demonstrated that she really didn’t know what her boyfriend was up to.

“The crown has told inferences of Opriniou’s knowledge of the crimes without use of forensic evidence and they are asking the court to draw an inference without a fair investigation,” Fosuhene said, adding she hoped the court would see other inferences and find her client not guilty.

Justice Michael Mettyear said he would deliver his verdict in the judge alone trial before 21 May.

Jaida Alexander, an intern with CNS contributed to this article.