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DPP returns file on PS in kickback scandal to police for second time
Kaieteur News – It has been more than one month since Permanent Secretary (PS) attached to the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs was allegedly caught in a sting operation collecting a bribe from a contractor.
Sharon Hicks, the Permanent Secretary who was caught collecting a bribe.
The last update this publication received on the matter is that the case file was once again returned to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) for corrections to be made.
Sharon Hicks, 42, of 811 Onderneeming, West Bank Demerara (WBD) was arrested at her Quamina and Thomas Streets, South Cummingsburg office on Thursday October 7, 2021 during the police operation.
Following the sting operation she was immediately sent on leave pending the investigation. The case file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C, during last month for legal advice. The file was sent back to the police for the investigators to make correction and resend to the DPP chambers.
However, according to the DPP Public Relations Officer (PRO), Liz Rahaman, the police did return the file to the DPP’s chambers but the file was once again returned to the GPF for further corrections.
Kaieteur News had reported that the sting operation was setup after a businessman who usually provides security services to the Ministry reported to the police that the PS was demanding money from him before she signed off on his invoices.
Hicks and the businessman’s father had a deal in which she would help him secure a contract with the Ministry and in return, he pays her $200,000 a month. After the businessman’s father died, he took over his father’s business and that is when Hicks approached him to strike the same deal with him, to which he first agreed.
However, after reportedly paying Hicks for three months, he became tired and reported the matter to the police. As such, the sting operation was setup and marked notes were handed over to the PS by the contractor while in her office. After Hicks collected the money, a plainclothes police rank walked into her office, identified himself and cautioned her. She was then told of the allegation and arrested.
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