Corruption thrives in the face of weakness

Apr 02, 2017 Features / Columnists, My Column

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This week a woman walked into my office to complain that the people at Money Gram were asking her too many questions before they give her some money sent from overseas. She said that she considered the questions to be too invasive and that she did not like the idea.
The questions ranged from her address to what she proposed to do with the money. She then said something interesting. She wanted to know if the Federal Bureau of Investigation was aware of these happenings in Guyana.
I tried to explain that the anti-money laundering regulations demand these things. Indeed, I got to thinking that the person sending the money would have been the person to be asked questions. The sender would be required to provide the name of the receiver.
Of course the messenger could not ask the sender the reason for sending the money. I suspect that is why that question is left to the receiver. The woman was not happy to disclose her address, since she feared a visit from unwanted persons.
The upshot of it all is that I called the company and learned that the questions became mandatory from February 1. I then turned to the woman and said that if someone asked her to state the reason for the money she could give any. She could say that she wanted to repair something or that she wanted to buy something.
Indeed, Guyana has the reputation as a drug transshipment point hence the global police keep looking at the earnings from the sale of illegal drugs. They then set about trying to corral the money hence the various questions when there are money transfers.
Guyana made the news on a number of occasions. One was when the owner of a private jet was held with a quantity of cash. Later he was arrested for cocaine transactions. We then had a doctor who was also coming with a quantity of cash believed to have been procured by illegal means.
Not so long ago remittances to Guyana totaled more than US$400 million annually. The word is that these remittances are down. The result is that people complain about a shortage of foreign currency. Yet, when the going was so good and all this money was being transferred to Guyana, the exchange rate still climbed. Between 1992 and 2015 the exchange rate moved from $125 to the United States dollar to $206 to the dollar.
Some say that business has slowed and this may be true, because illegality is being tackled. The Ministry of Health remains one of the greatest sources of illegal money. Pharmaceuticals are bought with billions of dollars, but there seems to be a perennial shortage in the public institutions.
It has now been found that nearly every employee that has access to the pharmaceuticals siphon off large amounts. The doctors fund their private clinics at the expense of the taxpayers. Pharmacies also enjoy those supplies.
Last week I read that a shipment of drugs sent to the Suddie Hospital disappeared. The drug shortage continued at the hospital and the government was being blamed. There is still no word of prosecutions. People in the health sector are of the view that if the culprits are prosecuted then the government would have to build another jail. In fact, there may not be enough people to staff the various hospitals and clinics.
This situation had to be existing for a very long time, but the public was unaware. With the clampdown it is not surprising that the business community is shouting how business is bad. The illegal flow is drying up.
I remember the days when every young person joining the Guyana Police Force wanted a job as a traffic rank. There was money to be made on the road because there are so many lawless road users and, rather than face the courts, they simply pay the detaining rank. The police seem to have got a grip on this situation.
There were the illegal roadblocks that became cash cows. That too has been curtailed, but as fate would have it, the criminals in the force would seek other ways of making money. I hear that they are shaking down drug pushers.
Suffice it to say that there is a lot of money around. What is happening is that there is hoarding of foreign currency and the reason is simple. If there is hoarding then eventually an artificial shortage would be created and the exchange rate would climb. The hoarder would then release some of his money and make a handsome profit.
There are clever people out there, but elsewhere there are not so clever people. Or so it seems. There is this matter that should never have left the confines of the court. The judge is the head of his court; he is all powerful within those walls.
I now read that a judge contends that a lawyer appearing before him was in contempt but rather than dealing with the matter, the judge goes to the Chancellor. This is similar to the case of a boy running to his mother to complain, “Mommy, this boy knock me.”
For writing something critical of a judge I was once hauled before the court and tried for contempt. I narrowly missed being jailed. Had I been in this other judge’s court I would have been spending time inside the prisons.
The judiciary needs to be strong if there is to law and order in this country. It must protect itself. However, I must now await the outcome of a matter that should have been dealt with. I should have been writing a different story.

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