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GRDB fraud trial begins… three testified
Three witnesses yesterday took the stand to testify into the trial of the former officials of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB). The GRDB officials were slapped with 38 charges of fraudulent conversion and misappropriation.
Yesterday the trial commenced in the courtroom of the Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The crime 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. There are 17 charges of keeping fraudulent accounts, 16 for fraudulent appropriation and five for the falsification of accounts.
The defendants are former accountant, Peter Ramcharran; former General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association (RPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj; and former Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Nigel Dharamlall.
Also joining them are former General Manager of the Guyana Oil Company, Badrie Persaud; and the Deputy Permanent Secretary Finance Ministry of Agriculture, Prema Roopnarine. They had all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Special Prosecutor Patrice Henry who is working for the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) is representing the state. Attorney-at-law Glen Hanoman is representing the defendants.
The GRDB found itself in the spotlight after a forensic audit of that entity revealed several “anomalies” where loans without proper paperwork or promissory notes were found.
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 the clearing house 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.
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