Latest update February 6th, 2025 7:27 AM
US$500M GBTI contempt charge…3 weeks later, DPP still to pronounce on charges against her lawyer
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack, is facing a major dilemma. She is being asked to pronounce on a case against her own lawyer, Robin Stoby.
GBTI’s Chairman, Robin Stoby
Stoby is the Chairperson of the Guyana Bank For Trade and Industry (GBTI), a major, privately-owned financial institution.
The bank is facing off, in a case of high stakes, against the police Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
The unit has recommended contempt charges against Stoby and his seven directors for allegedly refusing to hand over details of transactions with the US dollar and other bank accounts of the state-controlled, Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).
However, despite at least four court orders, GBTI has failed or only partly complied, despite given deadlines.
SOCU reportedly prepared charges and handed the files over to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) last month.
However, the files are still being considered by the DPP Chambers. The delays would be the least of the problems now.
Over the weekend, according to a number of legal officials, the DPP may find herself in a serious situation of conflict of interest. Her lawyer, in the case involving the Pradoville Two lands, is Stoby who is also chairman of GBTI. He is representing her in the Pradoville Two case.
The DPP has reportedly benefitted from a house lot at Pradoville Two, an ocean-front property at Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara, which was allocated under questionable circumstances by the Bharrat Jagdeo administration.
Several former Government officials of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic benefitted from lands there in what investigators say is below market prices.
SOCU is reportedly investigating that matter too. The files may very well end up before the DPP for advice, raising some legal issues over conflict of interest.
DPP, Shalimar Ali-Hack
The SOCU’s cases are generating much attention as it is entering uncharted water.
The police unit has detained and questioned several top officials of the previous administration.
In 2015, shortly after taking office, the Coalition Government ordered several forensic audits to be carried out a number of state agencies.
Those audits were designed to gauge the health of entities like the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), the Guyana Gold Board, Guyana Marketing Corporation, the National Industrial Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).
However, what those audits said in their findings prompted the administration to hand several of those reports to the police.
Among some of the most blatant issues were alleged procurement breaches and poor recording keeping.
Already, a number of officials, including former staffers and board members of GRDB have been charged.
Former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, has also been charged for some “missing” books.
With regards to GRDB case, SOCU was on the track of US$500M-plus which was passed through the accounts of GRDB. One of these is a US dollar account.
The transactions of that US dollar account had to do with the Venezuela oil-for-rice deal with Guyana.
Started in the late 2000s, the deal saw Guyana selling rice and collecting oil, in return, from Venezuela.
The neighbouring country agreed that Guyana will pay a part of the oil money upfront and the rest over a number of years.
In Guyana, the Ministry of Finance would pay GRDB hundreds of millions of dollars of those delayed oil payments to farmers and millers and later cancel out the transactions with Venezuela.
However, GRDB is being investigated for where some of those monies went.
The rice board is being accused of misusing the monies, illegally loaning it to some rice farmers and even illegally engaging in selling foreign exchange to some banks.
GBTI, in essence, was asked by SOCU to provide the details of the transactions of the US dollar account of the rice board.
The bank is being accused of destroying some of those records and charges could be filed also for these.
Sitting on GRDB’s board was the former Chief Executive Officer of the bank, John Tracey.
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