Woman Charged Over Allegedly Fake Driver’s Licence

A thirty-five-year-old woman has been charged with uttering a false document after allegedly presenting a driver’s licence that an enforcement officer suspected had been tampered with. Yadira De Los Angeles Aldana, a Nicaraguan national originally from Crique Sarco Village and residing on Jennifer Street in Belize City, appeared in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court on Monday.  The charge stems from a traffic checkpoint on Cemetery Road on September twenty-fourth. According to the report, an enforcement officer stopped the SUV Aldana was driving and requested her licence. The officer reported noticing inconsistencies in the document. Checks with the relevant records offices reportedly found no driver’s licence registered in Aldana’s name.  No plea was taken. The prosecutor told the court that directions from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions were needed to determine whether the case would proceed in the Magistrate’s Court or on indictment in the High Court.  Aldana’s attorney, Leeroy Banner, told the court that she is a permanent resident who has lived in Belize for twenty-three years. He said she had travelled to Belize City to arrange her father’s funeral when she was detained. Banner also criticised the time police took to charge her and bring her before the court.  The prosecution did not object to bail. Aldana was granted bail of two thousand dollars, with one surety of the same amount, which she met. She is expected to return to court in November for disclosure.