Exxon and broker appeared in Court

May 11, 2024 Court Stories, ExxonMobil, Features / Columnists, News

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Kaieteur News – Representatives from ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) and Ramps Logistics Guyana Limited (RGLI) appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly on Friday, in relation to the US$12.192 billion inflated invoice that was submitted to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

Steve Gentry, a manager at EMGL and Mariska Jordan, a manager at Ramps Logistics appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts where they were read their individual charges.

Late April, it came to light that Ramps, contracted by Exxon to import oil well equipment, had allegedly submitted an inflated invoice. This discrepancy caught the attention of GRA, prompting an investigation.

Gentry pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on the 16th day of November, 2023 at Lot 200-201 Camp Street, Georgetown, Exxon caused to be made and subscribed a false declaration to the Revenue Authority, to wit the defendant caused the value declared on invoice number for a quantity of oil well equipment and supplies to be valued at US$12,192,103,923.91.

Jordan also denied the charge that was read to her. It is alleged that on the same date and location, Ramps made an untrue declaration to the Revenue Authority, to wit the defendant untruly declared a sum of US$12,192,103,923.91 for a quantity of oil well equipment and supplies listed on an invoice.

It is alleged that Ramps submitted an invoice for oil well equipment valued at US$4,467,662 but the declared value to Customs was a staggering US$12,192,103,923.91.

ExxonMobil was represented by a battery of lawyers led by Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo, while Ramps legal team consists of Senior Counsel Sophia Chote from Trinidad and Tobago.

Senior Magistrate Daly placed both Gentry and Jordan on self-bail and also granted permission for them to leave the jurisdiction when needed. The matter was adjourned to June 28, 2024.

The matter is being prosecuted by Deputy Commissioner-General of the GRA, Attorney-at-Law, Jason Moore. The prosecutor informed the court that the investigation into the matter is still incomplete.

It should be noted that if convicted for making a false declaration to the GRA, Exxon and Ramps face a mere GYD$25,000 fine, together with imprisonment for three years.

Kaieteur News has reported that Exxon was informed that during the investigation, Ramps submitted a missive to the Revenue Authority stating that it was contracted by Exxon to provide brokerage and freight forward service and attributed the erroneous declaration to information obtained from Exxon’s KABAL system.

On December 11, 2023, Exxon representatives visited GRA to assist with the investigation, where enquiries were made in relation to Exxon’s conduct. Further, in response, Exxon in a letter dated December 13, 2023 claimed that it learned that Ramps, “incorrectly inputted USD as the currency of the commercial invoice on the referenced Customs declaration, in place of GYD; and the error resulted in an overstatement of the value of the items listed on the commercial invoice and consequently on the Customs declaration submitted by your broker.”

In response to this, the Revenue Authority indicated that Exxon’s claims/explanation cannot be deemed as accepted in law, particularly since a statutory duty is imposed on Exxon to verify and ensure that all information declared to GRA by its broker is true and correct. “In addition, evidence was obtained to prove that the untrue declaration was caused to be made and subscribed to the Revenue Authority by your company. As such, be guided accordingly that this act constitutes a breach of Section 217 (1) (a) of the Customs Act, Chapter 82:01,” GRA told the company.

Exxon was given an opportunity to show cause why proceedings should not be instituted against them in accordance with the Customs Act. The company in response to the Revenue Authority made several claims: that it was not the declarant and has not made any false declaration, that the declaration was made by Ramps, that it (Exxon) has not made and subscribed or caused to be made and subscribed any false declaration, that any error made by Ramps was a typographical error which did not injure to the detriment of or cause any loss to the Revenue Authority, that to the best of EMGL’s knowledge, all information that was available to Ramps from the KABAL platform was accurate and any error was not caused by Exxon.

Moreover, the oil company also told GRA that under its contract, Ramps had an obligation to review and verify all inbound shipping documentation (such as bills of lading, commercial invoices, packing lists, certificates of origin, etc.) and was contractually obligated to review and verify all relevant shipping information before preparing and submitting the declaration.

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• ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL), Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Ramps Logistics Guyana Limited (RGLI), Steve Gentry

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