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Police still to arrest, charge others over fraud at GMC
…as prosecutor seeks DPP’s advice on way forward
Three months after Nizam Hassan, former General Manager (GM) at the Guyana Marketing
CHARGED: Nizam Hassan, Former General Manager of GMC
Corporation (GMC) was charged along with Felecia De Souza-Madramootoo for conspiracy to procure money to be paid by false pretence, police are still to arrest and charge three others.
The procurement charge is in relation to the approval of payments for low-graded rehabilitation works done on the GMC building at Robb Street, Georgetown.
Still to be arrested and charged are Hanniel Madramootoo, the husband of De Souza-Madramootoo, his brother Phillip Madramootoo and his friend Nizam Ramkissoon both Directors of Constantine Engineering and Construction Services Limited, Trinidad and Tobago.
It is alleged that between October 28, 2010 and April 25, 2012 they conspired with each other to commit the offence by continuously approving payments which were made to the contractor of the engineering firm for works that were incompetently and incorrectly done with inferior materials to rehabilitate the GMC building at Robb and Alexander Streets, Bourda, Georgetown; knowing that such works should not have been approved.
However, Hassan and De Souza-Madramootoo have been the only ones attending court with their Attorneys, Marcel Babb and Glen Hanoman respectively.
Yesterday, the matter was called before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. Police Prosecutor Deniro Jones indicated that the three other accused have not yet been arrested. Prosecutor Jones was advised by the Chief Magistrate to seek advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in relation to withdrawing the charge against Hanniel Madramootoo, Phillip Madramootoo and Nizam Ramkissoon, and proceeding with a trial of the former GM and De Souza-Madramootoo.
Prosecutor Jones is also expected to reply to submissions laid over by one of the Attorneys,
CHARGED: Felecia De Souza-Madramootoo
when the case is called again on February 28.
In the meantime, Hassan, 50, of Good Hope, East Coast Demerara and De Souza-Madramootoo, 34, of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara have each been released on $250,000 bail.
The duo was also instructed to report to the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) Headquarters, Camp Street, Georgetown and instructed to lodge their passports with the court.
Charges were recommended against Hassan and the other persons after the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) completed its report into the investigations of the multi-million dollar construction of the GMC office building.
A forensic audit report submitted last year April by auditor, Saykar Boodhoo, had flagged the construction, citing several worrying things at GMC, an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The forensic audit report was sent to Cabinet where it was decided that the findings of the report were serious enough to warrant a deeper investigation into not only the construction of the building but also into the handling of hundreds of millions of dollars of fertilizers.
According to Government sources, investigations found the principals of the contracting company are close relatives of the engineer. Investigators reportedly also found that Hanniel Madramootoo, who was assigned to oversee the project, allegedly used a family member to conduct transactions at the Tender Board relating to the project.
The forensic audit which triggered the recommendations for the charges would tell a worrying tale of how things were at GMC between January 1, 2012 and May 31, 2015, the time under review.
With regard to the construction of the building, in 2011 a contract was awarded to Constantine Engineering and Construction Services to build a new head office for GMC and the Guyana Shop, which it runs.
A contract in the amount of $23.96M was awarded by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).
However, the auditor could not review the bidding documents as NPTAB could not find any information that it was involved in the tender process even though the contract indicated otherwise.
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