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It is better to negotiate total repayment… than to “hunt” for a prosecution
Dear Editor,
Many Guyanese are surprised that the GPL executive, who had allegedly improperly transferred more than G$27M to his personal account, was allowed to go free, after promising to repay the total amount. Many bemoan the fact that the Asset Recovery Process seems inordinately long winded; or is not achieving its desired objectives, to say the least.
While I am not privy as to the specific philosophy of asset recovery being practiced, I am possessed of an understanding of the stages and processes involved in the various approaches. (1) Given the fact that Guyana lacks a sustained ethos for honourable governance; (2) a robust structural framework for fiscal accountability and (3) the early stages in the process, the emphasis at this juncture should be on “total recovery” if at all possible, rather than prosecution. The reason for this approach is simple: it is better to negotiate total repayment and keep the individual under surveillance to uncover more extensive involvement in illegal activities, than to “hunt” for a prosecution, which could prove protracted and costly.
The problem here is that the government and the average citizen are not on the same wavelength, so to speak. The basic principle of why a criminal investigation is carried out is to answer the following questions:
What has happened? Who is involved? How did it happen? Where did it happen? When did it happen?
Why did it happen?
Let’s think about these questions as we look at a case, as it unravels. A Forensic Anthropology Professor took a class to the scene of a crime. He sent six students to look at a body which was hanging from a rope. They all concluded that it was a homicide. He sent in another six students, several felt it was a classical case of suicide, others felt it was a homicide.
He sent them back again and asked a veteran detective to show the students the (healed) scarification on the victim’s neck. Many changed their opinion and said that the victim seemed suicidal. The professor then asked them to use their noses, and they said that the victim smelt like semen, upon proper examination, it was discovered that the victim was actually involved in sadomasochism. (The giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain). Conclusion: the victim died by accidental hanging.
Several years ago, I did an investigation for a female client. As the investigation progressed, the woman became more and more disgruntled. The source of her misery was rooted in the fact that the investigation was not going in the direction that she had hoped. Instead of revolving around a particular female that she wanted to beat senseless; it turned out that her husband was a rabid womanizer with a bevy of women.
Most Guyanese seem to be in the position described above. These investigations are not criminal investigations per se; and cannot be conducted as such from the onset, less it result in serious civil lawsuits. Notwithstanding, if it is found along the way that criminal charges should be laid, then that course of action would be taken. It should be borne in mind that the asset recovery process has national, regional and transnational implications.
Clairmont Featherstone
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