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Collusion charges recommended for Rasul, Gold Board top staffers
Charges of collusion have been recommended for three senior staffers of the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) as well as embattled dealer, Saddiqui ‘Bobby’ Rasul.
The recommendations were made recently and have led to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) studying the findings of the police Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
SOCU and its head, Sydney James, have been silent on progress of several separate investigations, refusing to comment on what he says are ongoing matters.
However, well-placed officials familiar with the case said that the collusion charges were recently recommended against General Manager, Lisaveta Ramotar; Deputy Andrea Seelochan and Legal Officer, Suzanne Bullen.
Rasul is also to be recommended for charges. The sources declined to give details.
These recommendations would be on just one aspect of the probe.
Rasul, who lost his dealer’s licence, is also being investigated for alleged money laundering. He is alleged to have passed hundreds of millions through the Gold Board claiming it came mainly from his gold mining company. That matter has not yet been received by the DPP.
It appeared the fixing of the records, which should have been picked up at the Gold Board level, was a mere ploy not to pay a two percent tax that are waived from mining companies when gold is declared. Dealers have to pay it. In essence, Rasul was making declarations from both his mining company- R. Mining- and his gold dealing/trading company.
All three Gold Board officials were sent on leave earlier this year after a $950M fraud was discovered at the Guyana Bank For Trade and Industry (GBTI) branch in Bartica, Region Seven. That fraud exposed a number of worrying things, including a cozy relationship between the Gold Board and Rasul.
The GBTI manager was sent home, with the bank later reporting that the fraud had dented its profit.
GBTI’s Chief Executive Officer, John Tracey, went on leave soon after the story broke.
Bullen, as the Legal Officer, helped to establish SSS Minerals Trading Enterprise Inc., the gold trading company that Rasul owned and which was handed a dealer’s licence. Her role in signing on those documents would be viewed as a clear conflict of interest, as she is the officer at the Gold Board, who has to ensure companies like SSS Minerals are in compliance.
Investigators are contending that the Gold Board officials should have seen warning signs from Rasul’s declarations and should have known that the transactions, at the very least, bordered on being suspicious.
Ramotar is the daughter of former President, Donald Ramotar.
Rasul was arrested and charged in a high profile case earlier this year after he allegedly defrauded the Bartica branch of Guyana Bank For Trade and Industry (GBTI) of more than $950M in a cheque deposit scheme that involved Citizens Bank. He was placed on $3M bail, leaving GBTI’s profits severely affected. The case is ongoing.
Bullen allegedly claimed that she received instructions from higher up in the Gold Board to assist in establishing SSS Minerals.
Investigators had wanted to know why GGB did not red-flag Rasul’s transactions. The gold dealer burst onto the gold trading scene last year, rapidly rising to become one of the biggest sellers to GGB.
What should have raised staffers’ suspicions was the fact that Rasul allegedly used a company he owned – R. Mining – to conduct the majority of his business with GGB.
There was a reason for this. Under regulations, mining companies are not required to pay the two percent tax. They are, however, mandated to pay the five percent tax.
In essence, Rasul is alleged to have bought gold through his gold dealing company, SSS Minerals, later passing it through R. Mining to the GGB.
Rasul’s activities have drawn the attention of not only SOCU but also the Guyana Revenue Authority.
Investigators seized vehicles and raided several of Rasul’s city, Essequibo coast, and Bartica properties. His business partners were also pulled in.
Among the vehicles were a Lexus SUV and Toyota pickup, both bullet-proof.
Police have also seized over 30 guns and a significant quantity of documents.
The guns belonged to Rasul’s security company.
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