Uncovering myriad irregularities

Jul 25, 2015 Editorial

Some revelations came to the fore this past week and it would seem that there are so many more waiting to be made. One revelation came from the criminal world. While the others all came out of the government service and suggest criminal activity, one must wonder whether there are not many others. Some of these were hidden because the previous government was either complicit or simply careless with the way people in its employ played with the public funds.
The most explosive would have been the revelations by self-confessed death squad member, Sean Hinds. Ever since the crime wave, people all over the city claimed to have seen Sean Hinds with others believed to be criminal elements. Their task was to kill people who simply strayed from the straight and narrow.
There was the crime wave in the wake of the 2002 Mash Day jailbreak that saw some high profile kidnappings and robberies. Guns, the likes of which were formerly reserved for the Disciplined Forces were seen in the hands of criminals. Soon the stage was reached where the police were outgunned and were forced to retreat into anonymity.
And when the police all but disappeared from the scene, the gunmen pursued them wherever they were and killed them randomly. Guyana was in the state of siege. So it was that Sean Hinds emerged. They killed anyone suspected of having a criminal record, no matter how trivial. And they killed many.
Now we hear that elements in the Guyana Police Force actually controlled these gunmen, provided them with weapons and actually directed them. This was the abhorrent case of the police seeking to don the robe of judge, jury and executioner.
One of these men has come out to talk about the days when his gang roamed the streets to kill people. He has called names but one wonders whether his revelation will spark an investigation. People are excited by the development but is it worth anything? The government says that it would like to talk to Mr Hinds.
The other revelation involves two people associated with Guyana Power and Light. This may not have been the first time that people with access to public funds use the money to pay themselves. So here we have a Deputy Chief Executive Officer writing a cheque that allows him to transfer $27.8 million to his personal account.
One must now wonder how often has this happened and how did the Auditor General miss such transactions. The mindboggling thing is that, the co-signee of the cheque then reverses the role by writing a sizeable cheque for himself having permitted the earlier transfer for the Deputy Chief Executive Officer.
This is criminal. The authorities, having found this, should have initiated prosecution for fraud. We now hear that these are not the only sums transferred to the accounts of these people. We learn that the previous Finance Minister did not approve of these sums being paid so the people waited until there is a change in administration then, without seeking the approval of the new authority proceeded to use the money as though it was theirs.
The People’s Progressive Party has been talking about witch-hunt when the audit was launched. It is precisely for this reason that there are audits and more irregularities would be uncovered.
The third revelation involves a man who was obviously protected by the administration. He owned private jets that flew in and out of Guyana. We do not know how much cocaine he smuggled out of the country and how much foreign currency he brought. But we do know that when he was bringing some US$600,000 into Guyana the American authorities busted him. They then found that he had stockpiled large sums of money in the bank accounts of many people close to him.
Surely, he had a lifestyle and after he was busted he still wanted to live the highflying life so he moved to smuggle cocaine.
Bharrat Jagdeo bought two airline tickets to London for himself and his spouse for $7 million (??) Many things have come to light. What else did happen when there was no examination?

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Uncovering myriad irregularities

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