Top Cop more interested in Bascom rather than investigating police cover-up, bribery in ‘Paper Shorts’ murder

Aug 19, 2022 News

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– Lawyer claims

Kaieteur News – Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes on Wednesday refuted claims made that his client Police Sergeant, Dion Bascom refused to submit himself for an investigation by the force’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

Hughes is now claiming that OPR never contacted him or Bascom, for an interview to assist their investigation and is positing that the acting Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken might be more interested in investigating his client rather than the allegations he made that senior ranks in the force have accepted a bribe to cover-up the murder of Ricardo Fagundes, better known as “Paper Shorts”.

Hicken on Tuesday issued a statement calling Bascom’s accusations of a major cover-up by the force “unfounded”.

“Sergeant Bascom has refused to submit himself to any investigation by the police of his public allegations, nor provide any evidence in support of the allegations he has made public”, stated the Top Cop.

Hicken further stated that the accusation made by Bascom while being a serving member of the police force has placed him in breach of one  of its code of  conducts.

OPR reportedly already has  investigated the alleged breach of the code of conduct and have submitted its findings with recommendations to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice.

The Top Cop in a subsequent Press Conference held on Wednesday reiterated his position and with the Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum at his side, sought to discredit Bascom’s claims by calling them false and malicious.

Bascom’s attorney later that evening during a Facebook interview with Mark Benschops, contested the Top Cop’s claim that his client refused to cooperate with OPR’s investigators.

“No police has contacted either Mr. Bascom, or myself or a member of my team to say, that we would like to interview Mr. Bascom in relation to the statements that he has made”, Hughes told Benschop.

Hughes said that he was the one who had reached out to the OPR and the Top Cop to submit a medical requesting sick leave on behalf of his client.

The lawyer also opined that the subsequent Press Conference which sought to paint Bascom as liar is making it seem as though Hicken and the force is only interested in investigating his client rather solving Paper Shorts’ murder or probing the police cover-up allegations made.

His exact words were, “If you bring all the top levels of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Acting Commissioner, the Crime Chief, and the Head of Major Crimes, to attack a police officer whom you have not yet interviewed in relation to what he has said, it means that your focus is clearly not solving the real crime, it is clearly not in solving the allegations that this police officer has made, it is merely to attack the police officer”.

Bascom earlier this month had accused his bosses at the force’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of setting him up in a recent drug bust because he had accused them of taking a bribe to cover-up the Fagundes murder investigation.

The Customs Anti – Narcotics Unit (CANU), the  law enforcement arm that made the drug bust, has made a public statement relating that it did not receive any instructions from Bascom’s superiors to arrest him, throw him in the lock-ups, and publish his mugshot.

Bascom alleged in a Facebook live after his release that one of his bosses at CID, Mitchell Ceasar had accepted a $30M bribe to destroy key evidence in Paper Short’s killing.

He even implicated prominent businessman, Azruddin Mohamed and a Mohamed Enterprise Security Guard, Mark Richmond who had allegedly threatened him, of being involved in the murder.

Bascom claimed that the evidence linking the men to the gruesome killing that took place in March 2021 outside of a popular bar on Main Street, was handed over to Ceasar.

Ceasar, however, never made use of the evidence and the suspects were never arrested.

In a Press Conference on Wednesday, one of Bascom’s Superiors, Wendell Blanhum, confirmed that Mark Richmond was initially listed as a person of interest in the case and admitted that he and other senior ranks were aware that the detective was allegedly threatened by suspect after he had gone to arrest him.

The Crime Chief made it clear that it is not CID’s duty to investigate threats and said that Bascom was advised to make a report at the Brickdam Police Station.

Bascom in his controversial live video said that he had lodged the report but no investigation was done and when he complained to his superiors at CID they ignored him.

 

As it relates to the cover-up of ‘Paper Shorts’ murder by police, Blanhum said that Bascom was lying and his allegations are false and very malicious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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