Latest update March 21st, 2025 7:03 AM
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GRA fires five Customs Officers
– three for luxury cars scam
Three Customs Officers mired in a scam to evade taxes for two luxury cars were yesterday dismissed by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Another two were reportedly sent home last week for also attempting to manipulate Customs entries for the same auto dealer who imported the two Jaguar cars.
The two Jaguar cars that GRA seized in June.
Kaieteur News understands that the three staffers who were sent home yesterday included Natalie Girard, who was stationed in a city warehouse; Claudia ‘Amanda’ Brotherson who worked in the so-called ‘Long Room’ or processing centre at GRA, and Adunie Simon, who was stationed a city wharf.
GRA officials disclosed that the three were given letters of dismissal yesterday.
In June, the GRA seized the two Jaguars in what is believed to be a scam to evade millions of dollars in taxes.
The high-end cars were said to be brought by a prominent city auto dealer, in June, and were already cleared when questions arose over the size of the engine which determines the taxes and duties that are charged.
Although the Jaguar cars are normally over 3000 cc (cubic capacity), the Customs entries reflected the engine size as below 1498 cc. As a result, duties and taxes amounting to just over $2M were calculated for the two cars when more than $10M should have been paid to Customs.
The cars, which were reportedly already sold to individuals, were immediately seized by GRA.
There were questions how the Customs documents passed the routine checks which should have in the first instance picked up the discrepancies.
Meanwhile, last week, two other Customs Officers, Julian George and Marsha George, were also dismissed by GRA. The two were said to allegedly involved in a plot to evade taxes for the same auto dealer back in February and manipulated Customs entries to show a lower tax amount than what should have been paid.
A GRA source yesterday said that the auto dealer had to pay the correct taxes and was fined in accordance with regulations, which amounted to a hefty percentage.
It was unclear yesterday whether charges are likely against the auto dealer.
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