Maria van Beek quits

Apr 25, 2009 News

-fails to pick out suspects during ID parade

Maria van Beek

By Michael Jordan
Fearing for her life after narrowly surviving a gunman’s bullet two Thursdays ago, Maria van Beek is stepping down as Commissioner of Insurance and Judicial Manager of Clico (Guyana).
Close associates of the 36-year-old van Beek revealed last night that she has decided to resign out of concern for her safety, despite the presence of armed security at her home.
Kaieteur News also understands that police allowed van Beek to view two of the men who were deemed to be suspects in her shooting.
However, a source said that she failed to pick the men out during the identification parade.
Van Beek was shot in the chest while driving along Lombard Street in heavy traffic on April 16, last.
The gunman then escaped on a motorcycle with an accomplice, who was waiting in Leopold Street.
An eyewitness told Kaieteur News that he saw a man, with one hand tucked under his sweater, walking ‘calmly’ from Lombard Street into Leopold Street seconds after the shot was discharged.
He described the suspect as a short, dark-complexioned individual of medium build, who was wearing a cap, jersey and three-quarter pants.
The injured woman managed to drive to Mohamed’s Enterprise on Lombard Street, where she sought assistance from staff who drove her to the Woodlands Hospital in Carmichael Street.
Police ruled out robbery as a motive for the attack.
A sister of van Beek’s had told reporters that the shooting might be linked to the contentious issue of the CLICO debacle but could not understand why her sister, in her role, was a target.
The relative described the attempt on her siblings’s life as “an eye opener for the entire family”, adding that security arrangements would be put in place to prevent any further attack.
She stressed that although van Beek was integrally involved in the CLICO issue, she was not personally responsible for the debacle that the company found itself in.
van Beek was appointed Judicial Manager of CLICO (Guyana) on February 25 last and was tasked with assessing the entity’s financial position.
On Tuesday last she presented her report to the High Court, declaring the company insolvent, adding that in a worst-case scenario the company’s liability outweighed its assets by some US$60M.

Latest News