Former GRDB boss, deputy face 30-plus new fraud charges

Oct 20, 2017 News

Two former senior officials of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) are set to face at least 30 new fraud charges today in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Charged: Peter Ramcharran

Yesterday, both former General Manager, Jagnarine Singh, and his deputy, Madanlall ‘Ricky’ Ramraj, were at the Camp Road office of the police’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), with their lawyer, Glen Hanoman. Missing is Peter Ramcharran, a former accountant, who is arrested and in custody in Canada, pending extradition. Charges could be read in his absence.
This would be the second case, with SOCU expected to lay more charges in a number of other cases, involving billions of dollars.
GRDB is the agency which regulates the country’s rice industry, one of the top three foreign currency earners for Guyana.
SOCU is investigating the findings of a forensic audit report which was handed over to the police by the Coalition Government several months ago.
Already, in one case, six former high-ranking officials of GRDB, including Jagnarine and Ramraj have been charged and placed on $500,000 bail each for allegedly failing to make a proper entry into a register of a company with the intent to defraud $362M from the entity’s Republic Bank account.
The six officials also included General Secretary of the Producers Association (RPA) and PPP/C Member of Parliament, Dharamkumar Seeraj; former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and PPP/C Member of Parliament, Nigel Dharamlall; former General Manager of the Guyana Oil Company Badrie Persaud and the Deputy Permanent Secretary, Finance Ministry of Agriculture, Prema Roopnarine.
The accused all pleaded not guilty to the charges which alleged that between January 1 and December 31, 2012, with intent to defraud, they omitted or concurred to be omitted $77.3M from the general ledger of the GRDB’s Republic Bank account.
Similarly, between January 1 and December 31 of the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 with intent to defraud the entity, they are alleged to have omitted or concurred to be omitted from the said Republic Bank account, $9.7M, $130M and $145M for three respective years.

Former GRDB’s head, Jagnarine Singh; attorney-at-law, Glen Hanoman,
and former deputy head, ‘Ricky’ Ramraj at SOCU yesterday.

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