Who guards the gold?

Oct 28, 2025 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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(Kaieteur News) – The recent allegations, made by the Americans, that vast quantities of Guyanese gold may have been smuggled to its shores, over the past seven years, if true would amount to one of the largest acts of gold smuggling in the Commonwealth Caribbean. But one has to be careful with the Americans and what it alleges; there may be geopolitical motives behind the American accusations.

Such allegations constitute an embarrassment to the PPPC government. If what is alleged is true, then the PPPC has failed the nation.

Even more surprising has been the response of the government to the accusations. Last week, the second Vice President of Guyana called on the police and the Guyana Revenue Authority to investigate all those involved in the alleged smuggling. It may have missed the Vice President’s recognition that it was under the watch of the very GRA that the alleged smuggling took place. How then can the GRA be asked to investigate what, if true, would amount to its own dereliction?

It is essential, however, to begin with a note of caution. There is, as yet, no public evidence that any gold has in fact been smuggled out of Guyana. What exists are allegations, not proof. Yet, if—operative word if—gold was indeed been illicitly exported, the finger of accountability must be pointed not toward the Guyana Gold Board, as the political directorate nd some of its surrogates seem eager to do, but toward the GRA.

Under Guyanese law, the Gold Board is responsible for authorizing the export of gold and ensuring that the gold it buys and sells is legally sourced. It is not, however, responsible for policing the ports or preventing smuggling. The Guyana Gold Board Act establishes the Board as a commercial and regulatory body to carry on the business of trading in gold and to “authorize persons to export gold.”

But it is the Guyana Revenue Authority, under the Revenue Authority Act and the Customs Act, that is charged with controlling the import and export of goods, collecting duties, and preventing evasion and smuggling through official channels. If gold was spirited out of Guyana through any legitimate port of exit, it could only have done so under the nose—or perhaps with the blind eye—of the GRA’s customs officers.

And yet, in a twist worthy of satire, the government has suggested that the GRA should be part of the team investigating these alleged illegal exports. This is akin to asking the shepherd to help find the wolves who raided his flock. It defies logic and undermines public confidence. The GRA, if these allegations bear any merit, would not be a neutral investigator but a potential culprit in a monumental failure of oversight or collusion.

That is why a credible, independent probe is indispensable. But “independent” does not necessarily mean “foreign.” There is a curious fascination in some quarters with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as if the FBI possesses mystical powers of detection. The Bureau, for all its storied history, is not an oracle. It investigates crimes that fall under U.S. jurisdiction; it does not descend upon sovereign nations to settle matters of domestic misgovernance. The myth that the FBI’s mere involvement would sanitize an inquiry is a naïve illusion, fostered perhaps by watching too much television.

Guyana does not lack the capacity for serious, impartial investigation; what it lacks is the political will to empower such an investigation. A panel of independent auditors, forensic accountants, and retired judges—with regional and international observers—would suffice to unearth the truth. Such a body, appointed transparently and reporting directly to the National Assembly, would inspire far greater confidence than a politically managed process featuring the same institutions whose performance may be under scrutiny.

Instead, what we are witnessing is a convenient diversion. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPPC) has been quick to hint at wrongdoing by the former Head of the Guyana Gold Board, a known critic of the administration. This attempt to link him to an unproven smuggling scandal smacks of political reprisal rather than reasoned analysis. It is a tactic as old as Guyanese politics: when cornered by controversy, find a convenient scapegoat and bury him under the weight of innuendo.

But the facts, and the law, stand in the way of this narrative. The Gold Board’s statutory duties are clear. It must authorize exports and ensure that the gold it trades is legitimately obtained. It is not tasked with verifying shipments at the port, monitoring customs procedures, or physically preventing contraband from leaving the country. Those responsibilities lie squarely with the GRA, whose officers are stationed at every legal point of exit and are empowered to inspect, seize, and detain goods suspected of being smuggled.

If, therefore, gold did indeed slip out of Guyana in quantities large enough to attract the attention of the United States, the failure would not rest with the Gold Board but with the GRA and, by extension, the Ministry of Finance, under whose remit the GRA falls. For gold to leave the country illicitly through an official channel, it must first have bypassed customs declarations, export duties, and inspection protocols—all of which fall under the GRA’s statutory watch.

This is not a technicality; it is a matter of accountability. In any functioning democracy, a scandal of this magnitude—where billions in revenue could have been lost to smuggling—would have triggered resignations at the highest levels. Ministers would step aside pending investigation. Senior revenue officials would be suspended. But in Guyana, where political loyalty often outranks public duty, we are instead greeted with calls for the GRA to investigate itself.

If gold was smuggled, then the failure was a breakdown in customs control, not in gold authorization. The Guyana Gold Board cannot be blamed for the conduct of customs officers. Yet the PPPC’s eagerness to deflect attention toward its critics betrays an unease that goes beyond the issue of smuggling—it is a fear of accountability itself.

Elsewhere in the world, such allegations would have provoked political tremors. In Guyana, they provoke press releases and promises of “ongoing investigations.” The people of Guyana deserve more. They deserve an independent, fearless inquiry—not one managed by the very hands that may have allowed the gold to slip away.

By the way, how would the Americans have known that the gold left Guyana without paying taxes. Do they have moles within the GRA?

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)    

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• gold, Guyanese gold, Peeping Tom, PPPC Government

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