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Money laundering – not new news

Jul 11, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Amid all the many huge developments, in the crush of the rush of mouthwatering projects, that descend upon Guyana, the PPP/C Government and its leaders have made a joyful living of pointing to their initiatives now in full swing.  Somehow, they conveniently forgot the dark underside of all this action, and the attractions that they hold for some seeing opportunities to be seized for crooked gain.  It was what they suppressed, or did not want to hear, but which has now come back to strike both government and leaders in the heel.  Money laundering is the name that used to make the rounds in Guyana as a problem and a plague, and then it dropped off the public radar.

Most inconveniently, money laundering has a new lease on life in Guyana.  This PPP/C Government wishes it had stayed dead, even if really was not.  Because what its reappearance does at this time is to point the spotlight right back at the leaders in this government, and they don’t come out looking well at all.  Apparently, one money laundering monstrosity after another has been allowed to take root here, with quiet leadership sanction, if not official looking the other way being the order of the day.

The problem is that nobody knows with any kind of assurance the amount of money laundered in this country.  The first thing that could be said is that this is looking at only big projects being announced daily, and bigger thrills being generated at the significance of all these exciting developments.  The second is that there is no seeming interest in looking too closely at the downside, the dark side, the bottom end of what and who comes here under various clever disguises.  The third is that a veritable money laundering industry has been erected and flourishes right here, and in plain sight.

There is no better way to launder dirty money that under the cover of legitimate projects.  Not too long ago, the practice that took hold was through a variety of fronts that fooled no one, but which washed plenty of dirty cash, and so much so that our financial system was choked with it.  Cambios were a favoured conduit, and given the history of some of those functioning in the capacity of money exchanges, they made for good candidates for the FBI Most Wanted list.  It was, probably is, the same situation with used car businesses, real estate dealings, and a range of commercial enterprises, all under proper cover.

In fact, there were those in Guyana who attracted the deserving name of secret investors, compliments of a prior partnering PPP/C Government and its leaders, which came about from their passive involvement in the construction and hospitality sectors.  It is hoped that all this helps Guyanese to get an appreciation of the scope of money laundering in this society, and the devastations that it has wreaked upon our legitimate businesspeople, and Guyana’s reputation.

Thus, the latest disclosure and reappearance of money being laundered here are not really ‘new’ news, so to speak.  Land deals, hotel expansion, mining, and many other sectors, all offer timely openings for money launderers to operate quietly, and be swallowed up in the bigger picture.  Nobody who knows how money laundering occurs should require any schooling from so-called Chinese businesspeople on the way that the system operates here, and who makes any kind of underhanded undertaking possible.  It was just what was present all along, except that there was so much more going on, so ordinary citizens got distracted.  The problem is that our watchdogs in crucial government agencies ought to have been alert to those working the system, and gaming it for illegitimate ends.

The only way for this to have been achieved is with transparency and the complete separation of politicians from any of these secret dealings with sleazy locals and outsiders, and for political parties not to accept financing from them.  It’s too late now, and we gain more insights on how business, governance, leaders, and crime intersect in Guyana.  The price is bitter, and no amount of laundering can alter this state.  We need clean leaders and clean officials and clean partners to get clean governance.

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