Govt. wants British fraud expert to return

May 22, 2017 News

…request already made to British High Commission

The APNU+AFC administration is keen on having British fraud expert Dr Sam Sittlington return to Guyana to continue the work he started at the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
This was made known by Minister of Public Security Kemraj Ramjattan. In an interview with Kaieteur News, Ramjattan said that he has already approached the British High Commission in Guyana to assist in this regard.
Ramjattan explained that he was given the assurance by the British High Commissioner to Guyana Gregory Quinn that the request will be looked at. Ramjattan explained that Quinn has already indicated that he will be approaching the UK government on his request.
Ramjattan noted that a favourable outcome in this regard is not a decision for Quinn to make; rather, this has to be done at the UK governmental level. Ramjattan also explained that there are other experts in the UK, but he was keen on Sittlington, because of the good work he has done.

UK Fraud Expert Dr Sam Sittlington

Ramjattan said that during Sittlington’s stint at SOCU he had made a number of recommendations to strengthen that entity. The Public Security Minister said that Sittlington is the best person to evaluate if those recommendations were properly implemented.
He said the fraud expert had made a number of recommendations that will be made public once they are adequately discussed by the relevant parties. He explained that work will commence shortly in training police officers in specific areas in the fight against ‘white collar’ crime.
Ramjattan said that there are plans to train police officers in the area of accountancy and other financial matters, since this is key, if agents attached to SOCU are to adequately execute their functions.
He said that government will be looking to procure the services of accountants and financial experts to assist in this regard. He said that another area that will be looked at is book keeping, since this is another critical area in the fight against ‘white collar’ crime.
Moreover, Ramjattan said that Sittlington has played a pivotal role in helping SOCU officials to strategize during the investigation of financial crime and this is another key reason why he is keen to have him return.
Added to that, the Minister noted that SOCU officials are now in a better position to know what to look for when investigating such crimes and this is all down to work that was done with that entity during Sittlington’s time in Guyana.
The Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) has been at odds with Sittlington and has accused him of meddling in the nation’s affairs.
The most contentious issue for the PPP/C is the fact that a party held at the Oasis Cafe for the expert’s departure from Guyana, was seen by that party as a function to celebrate the arrest of PPP/C members, including Bharrat Jagdeo and Dr Roger Luncheon during the Pradoville 2 investigation.

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