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Lotto Fund probe… Suspect skips country one day ahead of wanted bulletin
Wanted: Jadoo Datt
A suspect whom investigators wanted to question in an ongoing investigation of the Lotteries Commission is believed to have skipped the country a day before a wanted bulletin was issued for him.
The Sheriff Street man was being sought for questioning about his involvement with transactions of the Lotto Fund, involving millions of dollars.
While officials of the police Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) were tightlipped yesterday, sources disclosed that from indications Jadoo Datt, left Skeldon, on May 15, for Suriname.
The next day, the police issued a wanted bulletin for him.
The problem with that, according to police officials, is that the request for the wanted bulletin had been with police for about a week before it was issued to media houses.
It is believed that during the “delay”, Datt may have been tipped off about the bulletin and fled.
On May 16, police announced that Datt is wanted for questioning in relation to a number of conspiracies to defraud the Government of Guyana, between the period December 2015 and April 2016.
Datt is said to be 40 years old. His last known address was given as 64 Sheriff Street, Campbellville.
Datt is said to be one of several persons who signed to collect payments issued by the Lottery Control Commission, which has responsibilities over the Lotto Fund. Those cheques were to the tune of millions of dollars.
Under the agreement between the Government of Guyana and the Canadian Bank Note, which is the parent company of the Guyana Lottery Company, this country gets 24 percent of gross revenues from the lottery.
However, over the years, the administration of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has been accused of keeping the monies under its control at the Office of the President, instead of turning it over to the Public Treasury.
It is believed that the fund had hundreds of millions of dollars in it from the Lottery Company.
In fact, the new administration has spent monies from it, including $300M in 2015 on the D’Urban Park.
The Auditor General had reported that between 1996 and 2011, the Government of Guyana received over $4B from the Guyana Lottery Company.
The monies were used for sports, education and health.
With regards to the SOCU investigations, it was reported that in 2015 the Coalition Government ordered forensic audits into several state entities.
The Lotto Fund was also audited.
It is the findings of the audit that concerned the Ministry of Finance, which handed the report over to the police to be investigated.
A number of Ministry personnel, including Vladim Persaud, the Assistant Accountant General, were among those questioned. He was sent on leave.
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