Latest update April 17th, 2025 8:39 PM
NICIL being revamped –Finance Minister
By Kiana A. Wilburg
Even though a detailed forensic audit report has recommended that the National Industrial and Commercial
Finance Minister, Winston Jordan
Investments Limited (NICIL) be shut down, Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, has said that this course of action would not be pursued.
He explained to Kaieteur News, recently, that while he has considered the proposal by forensic auditor, Anand Goolsarran, he simply cannot agree with it as he believes that NICIL as a company can serve a purpose, once it is refined.
The Finance Minister noted that in this regard, the entity is being revamped in order to prevent it “from ever being used as a parallel treasury again.”
Asked to say whether he was comfortable with the Finance Minister’s decision, Goolsarran said that he has no qualms so long as the safe guards being implemented will prevent the wanton scales of corruption from being repeated.
He asserted, “The important thing has to do with this whole idea of a parallel treasury. Once they put all the proceeds into the Consolidated Fund then that’s fine. They can still keep it as a small company if they want. I am not unhappy if they want to take that course of action. What we have to ensure is that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.”
In his report, Goolsarran recommended that the entity be closed down and a small department be opened under
NICIL’s former CEO, Winston Brassington
the Ministry of Finance, if Government deems it necessary.
Goolsarran claimed that the reason for such a recommendation was premised on the fact that NICIL was initially established for the purpose of privatization of state assets. That was done in two phases in the 1990s.
Since that phase ended years ago, the report recommends that there is no need for NICIL to remain a company. It says that it should be liquidated and government should make moves to establish a department to manage the assets being held by the company.
Since the launch of a forensic audit into the operations of NICIL, several glaring breaches of the country’s financial regulations have been unearthed.
The forensic report on NICIL exposes how former CEO, Winston Brassington, bypassed internationally recognized and credible companies only to engage criminal entities for the construction of the controversial Marriott Hotel.
He failed to justify how millions of dollars were spent in the Linden Mining Enterprise and to properly account for their assets.
The former NICIL CEO also paved the way for the company to illegally fund the preparation of the Pradoville Two scheme, misappropriated billions of dollars, and kept $26B from the Consolidated Fund.
Forensic Auditor, Anand Goolsarran
Based on that and more, Goolsarran made several recommendations on the way forward regarding the entity. Most of these were followed by Cabinet. He also recommended that moves be made to institute criminal and/or disciplinary actions for the interception of State revenues totaling $26.858 billion in violation of Articles 216 of the Constitution and the related sections of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMA).
He said that disciplinary action is provided for under the following sections of the FMA Act: (a) Section 48 — Misuse of public moneys; (b) Section 49 — Liability for loss of public moneys; and (c) Section 85 — Liability of an official.
Goolsarran also called for the institution of criminal and/or disciplinary actions against all those responsible for violating Article 217 of the Constitution, by causing expenditure to be incurred without parliamentary approval.
The Chartered Accountant called for NICIL to be liquidated and for the appointment of a Receiver to oversee the liquidation process. He said, too, that Government should re-activate the Privatization Unit as a department of the Ministry of Finance to manage the Government’s residual investments after liquidation proceedings have concluded.
In this regard, he noted that the existing staff of NICIL could be transferred to the Ministry of Finance.
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