Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
Several ensnared in Santa Rosa $9M scandal
– treasurer out on station bail
Kaieteur News – Phillip Bess, the treasurer of Santa Rosa, Village, Moruca, Region One who was arrested recently over a missing $9.5M government grant meant for coffee farmers has been released on station bail as investigations continue.
Released on station bail for the alleged misappropriation of funds.
Investigators have related to Kaieteur News that that they are treating the case as an alleged misappropriation of funds and it is suspected that more persons might be involved. However, Bess has been able to assist investigators by giving account on how the money was spent but measures might have to be taken recover all.
Speaking with Kaieteur News on Thursday, Santa Rosa Villagers said that they have been informed that Bess was released from police custody and are now awaiting General Village Meeting scheduled for Sunday, October 23, 2022 to receive an update on the case.
Bess was arrested two weeks after Santa Rosa residents accused their Toshao Stravos Stanley of corruption during a protest they had staged. They wanted Stanley to give account for some $9.5M that was granted to the village by the government as a grant for coffee farmers.
Santa Rosa residents had moved to protest over the funds and other alleged corrupt acts taking place in their village after a letter was published in one of the daily newspapers, claiming that no attention is being paid to allegations of corruption in Indigenous communities.
The letter was penned by Mervyn Williams, a member of the opposition and he made reference to the allegations made by the Santa Rosa residents that their Toshao, Stanley cannot give account for the $9.5M granted to the community by the government to fund a coffee project. Williams wrote that the funds were reportedly deposited in a bank account and the village council was given control of the monies to manage it in the best interest of the residents.
“At a recently conveyed General Meeting, the Toshao, Stravos Stanley and the treasurer Phillip Bess were called upon to give account for the Coffee Project fund. The report was that all of the Santa Rosa Village Funds had been withdrawn from the account and the villagers are alarmed. There was no consultation with the coffee farmers regarding the withdrawal or use of the funds. Further, farmers have not benefitted from the fund withdrawn”, Williams alleged in his letter.
The residents had disclosed to Kaieteur News too that only three persons were assigned as signatories to withdraw the funds from the account and they are, Stanley, their Toshao, Bess, the village treasurer and another male village councillor.
They had alleged too that this is not the first time that Stanley is unable to give account for village funds. One protestor, Paul Rodrigues, an elected committee representative of Kumaka – part of Santa Rosa – alleged that Stanley had failed to declare other funds entering the village treasury to its council members.
He recounted two occasions where monies were not declared and when the council called on Stanley to account for the cash, he could not. “A contractor came in here to do the roads and he paid the village $150,000 for sand royalties (a royalty paid for using sand from the village). That money was never declared, the same contractor also donated $260,000 to repair a four wheel motorbike belonging to the village, that too was never declared and we don’t know where the money is”, Rodrigues had claimed.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Bureaucracy gone bananas!
…Peeping Tom kaieteur News- Every morning, the government wakes up, stretches its arms, and spends one billion dollars... more
Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger... more
Weekend Cartoon
