Althea Padmore is new SOCU acting Head

Jul 20, 2019 News

The Guyana Police Force has announced the appointment of Ms. Althea Padmore as the acting Head of the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU).
She replaces former SOCU Head, Assistant Commissioner Sydney James, who was suspended earlier this month.
A Superintendent of Police, Ms Padmore has been with SOCU since 2015. She was de facto number two to Sydney James ever since.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and other qualifications necessary for the job at SOCU.
Supt. Padmore led in several investigations conducted by the organization.
She was also one of the officers in the first round of training hosted by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) for all financial analysts.
James was sent on leave shortly after a special police audit on the organisation’s finances reportedly found some unaccounted expenditure which could not be verified.
The unit probes corruption and money laundering.
SOCU has been handed increased powers to investigate the findings of several forensic audit reports of state agencies.
A number of Government officials under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) were charged as a result of SOCU’s investigations of those audits.
The British government has been assisting SOCU by placing an expert, Dr. Sam Sittlington, as an advisor.
However, Sittlington had his services terminated by the British government after it was discovered he had opened a private investigating company.
Another senior official, Sheronie James, also departed SOCU after questions arose about her qualifications.

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