Two foreign nationals have been accused in court of spreading false information — believed to be linked to reports of a rattlesnake that resulted in weeks of searches.

Victor Bahia, a 32-year-old Brazilian and Alvaro Cro, a 55-year-old Portuguese national from the Azores, appeared in Magistrates’ Court yesterday to answer separate charges with the help of a Portuguese-language translator.

Mr Bahia, who lives in Sandys, pleaded not guilty to transmitting a message through electronic communications that he knew to be false on June 26.

Mr Cro, who lives in Southampton, denied making a false statement to a detective constable that he knew to be false on July 30.

The pair were given the option to have their cases heard in Magistrates’ Court or Supreme Court. Both men elected to have their cases heard in the lower court. Magistrate Tyrone Chin adjourned the case until September 21.

Mr Bahia was released on $5,000 bail with two sureties and must reside in his Sandys home, report to Hamilton Police Station twice a week and surrender his travel documents. Mr Cro was released on $5,000 bail and report to the police station once a week.

In a statement, the Department of Public Prosecutions said the charge against Mr Bahia concerned the distribution of an image that became the subject of “great national concern,” contrary to section 66 of the Electronic Communications Act.

While the statement did not reference the report of a rattlesnake, it is understood that is to what the case relates.

The DPP’s statement acknowledged the “thorough investigation carried out by the Bermuda Police Service”.

It added: “Members of the public are urged to be responsible when sharing information with each other and the Department of Public Prosecutions remains committed to its mandate to provide Bermuda with an independent, efficient and effective prosecution service and stands ready to prosecute allegations of mischievous misuse of electronic communications where it is in the public interest to do so.”

Jaché Adams, the Minister of Public Works and Environment, said this month that about $50,000 was spent by the Government in efforts to locate the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, which was reported to have been seen in the Gibbs Hill area on June 26.

Teams from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, and other organisations, as well as specialists from the US-based National Canine Facility, searched within about a mile of that location for the reptile.

The environment ministry said last month that “no physical evidence, including a snake, shed skin, tracks or scent, was identified” during the searches.

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