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Rice Board fraud case…Prosecutor recommends three separate trials for accountant
Special Prosecutor Patrice Henry yesterday recommended to Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan that the charges made out against the former accountant for the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Peter Ramcharran, should be done in three separate trials.
Peter Ramcharran
Ramcharran was slapped with 39 charges of fraudulent conversion and misappropriation which allegedly took place between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2015. The fraud involved tens of millions of dollars. The total is said to be over $400M.
The matter is currently in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. Yesterday when the matter was called, the Administrative Justice Act (AJA) was applied to the charges and Ramcharran was allowed to enter his plea. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Prosecutor Henry who is working for the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) entered a submission to have a charge which took place on February 15, 2012 for keeping of a fraudulent account involving $400,000 to be withdrawn against Ramcharran, since as it is a duplication of another charge.
His submission was upheld and therefore, Ramcharran is now faced with 38 charges. There are 17 charges of keeping fraudulent accounts, 16 for fraudulent appropriation and five for the falsification of accounts.
The prosecutor recommended that the 39 charges should be dealt with as one in the segments mentioned so that there would be three separate trails.
Magistrate McLennan then heeded the recommendation and adjourned the matter until May 16, next, when she will indicate how the trials will be carried out.
Ramcharran, 30, of Lot 32 Area ‘G’ Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara, is being represented by attorney-at-law Sase Gunraj. The defendant was brought before the court after eluding the hearings for almost two years in Canada.
In Canada, Ramcharran had first applied for refugee status. After he was turned down in December, he sought a review of his extradition process but this, too, was turned down.
In 2017, the Chief Magistrate had issued an arrest warrant for him.
He is being jointly charged with former General Manager of GRDB, Jagnarine Singh; former Deputy General Manager of GRDB Madanlall Ramraj; General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association (RPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj; former Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Nigel Dharamlall; former General Manager of the Guyana Oil Company, Badrie Persaud and the Deputy Permanent Secretary Finance Ministry of Agriculture, Prema Roopnarine.
The GRDB found itself in the spotlight after a forensic audit of that entity revealed among some of the “anomalies” found were loans without proper paperwork or promissory notes.
From about 2009 to 2015, Guyana, under the administration of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, had entered a multi-billion-dollar oil-for-rice arrangement where GRDB was clearing out for farmers.
However, millions of dollars of those monies were reportedly siphoned off via third-party arrangements including rental of ships and other sweetheart deals for a few millers. SOCU is investigating other aspects of the audit report.
According to information, the former accountant is heavily implicated in the probe with regards to the six former GRDB board members who have also pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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