Businessman charged with stealing motor car

A businessman who is accused of larceny of a motor vehicle was offered bail when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Wednesday.

The allegations are that on October 23, 2021, the complainant borrowed $300,000 from Robert Nooks' loan company and both parties agreed that the complainant should repay with an interest of $51,000 by November 1. A part of the agreement states that failure to repay would require the complainant to pay the interest monthly until the full loan is repaid. According to police reports read in court, the complainant failed to fulfil that obligation and between November and January 2022, she paid over $70,000 as interest to him.

On January 28, Nooks, 54, drove to an address in St Catherine where he saw the complainant and demanded his money. It is alleged that when his demand was not met, he drove away the complainant's 2000 Toyota Rav 4 valued at $650,000. It is further alleged that on February 13, the complainant transferred $368,000 to the bank account of one of Nooks' associates, who later returned the money and informed the complainant that Nooks had sold the vehicle to a man identified only as 'Phillip.' Efforts to locate the alleged buyer or to recover the vehicle have proven futile.

Attorney-at-law Jermaine Reid, in making a bail application, informed the court that his client denies the allegations as the complainant offered the car as repayment for the loans.

"She was shorting the money every month as there is a certain amount to be paid every month and at the end of the month, she was to pay a lump sum. When the end of the month came, he demanded his lump sum coupled with the money that was short. She failed to do so and he said to her 'Please just give me the money.' She eventually brought the car to him and she said 'Take the car.' He said he didn't want the car, he wanted the money and basically, he held the car and he said to her that he would hold the car for 10 days and after the 10 days bring my money," the lawyer said.

Reid told Senior Parish Judge Lori-Ann Cole-Montague that the car was eventually sold in a lawful transaction. Cole-Montague offered Nooks bail in the sum of $300,000 with at least two sureties. A stop order was imposed and Nooks was ordered to surrender his travel documents as well as report to the police once weekly. Nooks is to return to court April 21.