Prosecution closes case in $600M larceny charge against Dr. Westford

Jul 11, 2018 Court Stories, Features / Columnists

Ms. Margaret Cummings

Hector Butts, the Finance Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, was among the witnesses called yesterday to testify in the $600M larceny charge against former Minster of Public Service Dr. Jennifer Westford and Margaret Cummings.
Following these testimonies, the State, represented by Prosecutors Natasha Backer and Teshana Lake, closed its case against the duo.
Westford and Cummings have denied the charge which alleged that between August 2011 and April 2015, while being employed in the Public Service of Guyana, they stole $639, 420,000. They are currently out of $4.8M bail each.
During his testimony, Butts told the court that police had requested information from him on whether or not funds were released from the public sector modernization project in 2011.
Among other things, he revealed that he checked records at the Ministry of Finance to ascertain whether or not the project commenced in 2011.
Lawyers for Westford and Cummings, Senior Counsel Neil Boston and Dexter Todd, were given until July 31, to present their clients’ defence.
According to court facts, Westford was employed as Minister of Public Service from 2001-2015, while her co-accused was the principal personnel officer of the Ministry. Cummings was also in charge of the Ministry’s accounts department.

Dr. Jennifer Westford

It was discovered that on numerous occasions Westford signed memoranda, amounting to $639,420,000, and sent them to the Office of the President 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 regions were contacted and denied ever receiving the cash. Investigations were carried, but the monies were never recovered.

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