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Dr. Jennifer Westford trial… Bank staffers testifies to encashing over $125M in cheques
Dr. Jennifer Westford (left) and Margaret Cummings
The trial of former Minister of Public Service, Dr. Jennifer Westford, and Ms. Margaret Cummings, who are accused of stealing hundreds of millions dollars from the state, continued yesterday with testimonies from Bank of Guyana staffers who testified to encashing cheques totalling $125,632,684.
It is alleged that between August 2011 and April 2015, Westford and Cummings, while being employed in the Public Service stole $639,420,000.
They have pleaded not guilty to the charge. They are currently out on $4.8M bail each.
During his testimony before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman, Isaac Daly, a Senior Cash Teller at Bank of Guyana told the court that on May 22, 2014 he was at work when he received cheque 05488623 dated May 20, 2014 payable to the Permanent Secretary (PS) to the then Office of the President (OP) for the sum of $40,070,000.
Onika Ralph, a Clerk/Teller at the bank said that she was at work on August 4, 2014 when she received cheque 05514685 payable to the PS of Office of the President for $30,472,684.
Also testifying was Melissa Bevenley, who also holds the position of Clerk/Teller at Bank of Guyana.
According to Bevenley, she received cheque 05601236 from the Accounts Clerk on March 17, 2015.
She said that the cheque was dated March 13, 2016 and was payable to the Permanent Secretary of OP for the sum of $55,090,000.
Keshawna Ward and Nafally Jickery, who were formerly employed at OP as Accounts Clerk 2, also testified. In their testimony, they recalled receiving cheques and taking them to be encashed at Bank of Guyana.
Attorney-at-Law Dexter Todd, who is representing Westford and Cummings, cross-examined some of the witnesses. State Counsel Natasha Backer and Teshana Lake are representing the prosecution.
According to facts, Westford of Lot 55 ‘AA’ Victoria Avenue Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD) was employed as Minister of Public Service from 2001-2015, while her co-accused was the Principal Personnel Officer of the Ministry. Cummings of Lot 709 Section ‘A’ Diamond, EBD was also in charge of the Ministry’s Accounts Department.
It was discovered that on 24 occasions, Westford signed memoranda amounting to $639,420,000 and sent them to the OP for approval. Approval was granted and cheques were prepared and encashed by Bank of Guyana.
The monies were requested to carry out various activities throughout the 10 administrative regions. However, personnel from the various administrative regions were contacted and denied ever receiving the cash. Investigations were carried out but the monies were never recovered.
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