Brazil mob may have executed Guyanese couple over stolen cache
- two of Mootoo’s ‘business associates’ also slain this year
Executed cambio dealer Totaram Mootoo and his wife appear to be the most recent targets of a bloody, long-running vendetta involving members of an incensed Brazilian mob and a group of Guyanese accused of fleecing them.
Executed: Totaram Mootoo, called ‘Beer’, and Bagmattie Mootoo, called ‘Dolly’
This is the view of police sources who believe that the feud has already claimed the lives of at least two of Mootoo’s close associates; Intaz Roopnarine and JasonWills, who were gunned down this year within the space of one week. Roopnarine was shot dead on January 24 in the compound of the Cool Square Hotel, while 33-year-old Wills was riddled with bullets a few days later in a Meadowbrook residence. Wills was reportedly watching television in the living room when gunmen armed with high-powered weapons entered via the open front door and shot him dead. Roopnarine, Wills and Mootoo are said to have been business partners as well as close friends. According to reports reaching Kaieteur News, the vendetta stems from a dispute over a soured transaction, allegedly involving some Brazilians, who were fleeced of a cache believed to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. This newspaper was told that the three Guyanese and their associates are being blamed for the loss incurred by the foreigners. Police have received reports that Mootoo had been attempting to make amends for his part in the soured deal. He reportedly recently sold a plot of land for some $40M, allegedly with the intention of paying his debt. However, the individual to whom he sold the property failed to pay him immediately. The businessman was still waiting for payment when he was executed. Close associates of the couple had confirmed that he had complained of being owed large sums of money but they also said that he had not appeared to be worried or expressed fear for his safety. Police sources suggested that the Brazilians became impatient and opted to kill Mootoo rather than collect their debt. One source likened Mootoo’s demise to the still unsolved murder of the late Herman Sanichar, who was gunned down some 19 years ago at his Herstelling, East Bank Demerara residence. Sanichar’s killers allegedly threw foreign currency notes on his bullet-riddled body. “They (mobs) say they want their money and (after a while) they say they don’t want it anymore,” a source said. Investigators believe that Mootoo’s killers arrived at his home around 23:00 hrs on Thursday. It is believed that the men were individuals that the businessman considered to be his close friends, so he let them in.
Executed: Jason Wills
Police sources say that from evidence at the crime scene, the men conversed at a table and even had refreshments. “It looked like they had a decent conversation before they killed him.” Some sources believe that after that ‘decent conversation’, the men took Mootoo and his wife to their bedroom, where they used duct-tape to bind the businessman’s hands behind his back. The police sources believe that the men tortured Mootoo, before placing the couple on their bed and shooting them. It is also believed that the hit-men forced Mootoo to open a money-safe in his bedroom. From evidence at the scene the killers then placed a 20-pound gas cylinder on the bed and caused it to ignite. The ensuing explosion blew a hole in the bedroom wall and the subsequent blaze destroyed the house. Police officials said yesterday that while some of the houses in the upscale neighbourhood known as Guysuco Scheme have surveillance cameras, none of them appear to have recording equipment. The sole surveillance camera on the slain couple’s home was destroyed during the fire. Detectives are expected to return to the scene today. At least two individuals alleged that they saw the occupants of a car driving from the area shortly after the blaze started. The charred bodies of 54-year-old Totaram Mootoo, called ‘Beer’, and 48-year-old Bhagmattie Mootoo, called ‘Dolly’, were discovered early Friday morning in their master bedroom. The businessman’s hands were bound behind his back with duct-tape while his wife was lying nearby with an arm around her husband. Fragments of a gas cylinder were found at the head of the bed. Other fragments were also found in the yard, having blasted through a massive hole in the bedroom wall. The blast also blew off the roof and several windows.
Executed: Intaz Roopnarine
It is also true that he never engaged in gun or drug, or robberies. 