Gold dealer money laundering probe widens…Four vehicles seized from Rasul’s associate

Apr 25, 2017 News

The investigation into money laundering and fraud allegations against gold dealer Saddiqi ‘Bobby’

Saddiqi ‘Bobby’ Rasul

Rasul continues to widen. Attention is being directed to Rasul’s associates.
Yesterday, the Special Organised Crime Unit seized four vehicles belonging to gold dealer Raymond Khan some time in the afternoon and took them to SOCU’s Camp Street headquarters.
The four Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) taken to the Unit’s compound were a new model Toyota Tundra, a double cab Hilux, one Land Cruiser and one other vehicle.
Khan is a close business associate of Rasul, both operating in the gold industry. It was only last Friday that officials from the Guyana Revenue Authority seized a luxury Lexus LX570 SUV belonging to Rasul and transported it to the GRA Eccles Industrial Site State Warehouse.
Three weeks ago, GRA had gone to Rasul’s Prashad Nagar home and seized a tinted Toyota Hilux. It has been reported that the businessman’s Lexus and Hilux are both armour plated.
Questions have been raised as to how the vehicles are of that nature, particularly since no such records exist at Customs. The Lexus was imported under the re-migrant scheme in the form it was produced by the manufacturer.
Also, Rasul’s Hilux was found bearing numbers PKK 1996, which was not registered to that vehicle. It is believed that the automobile was imported from Brazil earlier this year but was never declared to Customs. There was no evidence of taxes or duties paid.
Khan is the second associate of Rasul to have engaged the attention of SOCU recently. Last week, ranks from SOCU had conducted a raid on the Lot 25 Sandy Babb Street, Kitty, Georgetown, home of Ricardo Fagundes.

Three of Khan’s seized SUVs in SOCU’s compound yesterday.

There, ranks presented a search warrant to sister of Ricardo Fagundes, Tessa Fagundes which stated that the ranks were interested in computers, laptops and phones among other items. That visit was said to be the third such by the Unit to the house.
According to Tessa Fagundes, her brother no longer works with Rasul. During the raid, the unit seized three high value sports motorbikes, a Jet Ski and reportedly found a bag with ammunition.
Rasul has since appeared in Court on April 3, 2017 and was placed on $3M bail after he was charged with six counts of fraud. He had pleaded not guilty. However, those charges were withdrawn and six new charges were reinstituted.
On April 21, 2017, when the new charges were reinstituted, Attorney for Rasul, Sandil Kissoon made an application before Magistrate Crystal Lambert presiding at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court to have the new charges dismissed.
According to reports, at a GBTI branch in Bartica $900M in cheques were tendered on Citizens Bank cheque leaves and tendered to GBTI.
It is protocol that banks would normally place a three-day hold on other bank’s cheques until they are cleared, before paying out monies. But it seems as though this protocol was not followed by officials at GBTI.
A senior female manager at GBTI has been sent home after it was discovered she was involved in authorizing the payments.