A 38-year-old attorney, Shalini Dhanipersad, appeared virtually before Master Kaleisha Ambrose Persadsingh in the South Masters Court on October 16, facing ten counts of fraud. The charges include five counts related to forged valuation reports and five counts involving falsified Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) invoices. Dhanipersad, a resident of Mc Bean Village, Couva, was granted bail set at $250,000 with a surety and is scheduled to return to court for a status hearing on November 13. The charges were filed under Section 9 (I) of the Forgery Act, Chapter 11:13. The allegations stem from incidents on January 27, 2023, when Dhanipersad allegedly submitted forged documents at the Stamp Duty Section of the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) in Port of Spain. The documents included five forged valuation reports, purportedly prepared by two chartered valuation surveyors and a property consultant, concerning properties in Mc Bean Village and Endeavour, Chaguanas. Additionally, she is accused of submitting forged WASA invoices, one of which falsely indicated an outstanding balance of $108, while the actual invoice showed a balance of $9,857.50. These documents were allegedly used to support draft deeds of conveyance for lands in Couva and Chaguanas. The charges were laid by Adesh Ramdeo, a Criminal Tax Investigator at the BIR’s Criminal Tax Investigation Unit. The State was represented by Cpl Mohess, while defence attorney Taradath Singh appeared for Dhanipersad.