Thorough report done – Auditor General

In another few weeks the full report on the irregularities at the Customs and Trade Admi-nistration (CTA) involving Fidelity Investments would be released, and the acting Auditor General believes the probe team did a comprehensive job, going as far as Venezuela to track leads.

The report is expected to detail a through investigation into the polar beer scandal which broke earlier this year homing in on several shady deals at the CTA of the GRA, some of which run deeper than Fidelity, according to reports.

Confirmation that the report will come out shortly came from Auditor General (ag), Deodat Sharma, who heads the task force that President Bharrat Jagdeo set up in April to investigate corrupt practices within the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). Sharma disclosed last week that the report will be out soon and that, “the President will first receive it”.

Though hesitant to answer any questions about the report, Sharma told Stabroek News, that the investigations had wrapped up since July and that the file is now with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). He stated that legal advice is being sought from the office which is now reviewing the report, but would not elaborate on this.

Sharma was clear on one thing: that the report is thorough and reflects months of intensive investigations covering the offices of the GRA. He stated that the task force is satisfied with the level of work that went into the forensic audit noting that they even went as far as Venezuela to fact-check certain information provided by Fidelity.

Since Venezuela is where Fidelity imports the beer from, he said, the task force went over mainly to clarify what exactly had been imported into the country- this has been disputed by Fidelity since the scandal broke- whether it was a shipment of soft drinks or polar beers.

“The report puts this issue at rest and until it is released the public will know but make no mistake about it, we have completed an in-depth look into customs as far as Fidelity goes but there other areas we are now getting started in”, Sharma said.

According to him this report will only cover one aspect of the probe that the President had initiated; the Fidelity scandal. He disclosed that they have also been tasked with assessing bank records of employees and in addition, checking the ties employees have with other companies that clear goods at the wharfs. Both investigations will feature in follow-up reports.

Sharma also disclosed that the task force had been assisted by a US agency during its forensic audit of the GRA; the President had promised the help of US agencies capable of carrying out such audits a few months ago.

The level of interest in the case has not escaped the task force, according to Sharma. He said they are fully aware that the public is awaiting the report but more importantly, what happens to whom.

“The public will certainly know in due time what our findings are but it is for the President, who called upon us to act, to make any announcements not this office. We have completed our work”, he added.

Though the Auditor General declined to comment on whether persons are going to be dismissed after the report comes out Stabroek News was reliably informed that some in the upper echelons of the CTA are named as conspirators in the polar beer scam. There are also reports that a few persons may face the courts for their involvement.

Sources say that the investigations have unearthed a trail of corrupt dealings involving a host of customs officials but, there are still further investigations to be carried out.

The bank assets of a few employees also reportedly raised more than eyebrows and remain the subject of an ongoing investigation. According to sources, many employees refused to answer any questions surrounding their ‘fast fortunes’.

Attorneys present
Sources close to the investigation revealed that many employees who came under the microscope of the task force simply refused to speak to anyone unless they had an attorney present while others remained mum.

The employees who were sent on indefinite leave had been reporting to the police for months, once a week. Some had complained about turning up and being asked to return without any explanation being offered. However, this newspaper was reliably informed that the police had made it clear that the investigations were ongoing and persons would be asked to report on chosen days.

But the majority of employees reportedly cooperated with the task force since many are hoping to return to their jobs.
“I am at the point where I am tired of running to the police to clear my name and showing up when asked only to be told to come back. I am sick of it and I believe everyone is as well, it is just silly”, an employee said in an interview with this newspaper two months ago.

To date, five employees have been fired from the GRA and they too were asked to appear before the police because they could be facing criminal charges.
Back in April, Fidelity reportedly proposed a deal with the revenue body that led to the probe being initiated – they would reveal how 73,000 Polar beers were cleared from the wharf without duties being paid but only in exchange for the charges instituted against the company to be dropped.

Fidelity then broke the story fingering the GRA officials by spilling how they entrusted a customs broker with $142M to get the shipment from the wharf.
The man reportedly came up with a deal with customs to clear the Polar beers under the category of ‘assorted soft drinks’.

The sum of $32M was then paid to the revenue body in taxes and another $70M was paid to a senior customs official who allowed the shipment to leave the wharf and who is also alleged to have facilitated documents being falsified for Fidelity.

But within days of the deal being struck, someone reported to a GRA official that the beers had left the wharf without taxes being paid resulting in the GRA moving to seal off the Fidelity bond at Broad Street.

Sources told Stabroek News that the customs broker at the centre of the probe had worked directly with a few customs officials and when the probe commenced, he produced documents showing that soft drinks had been cleared from the wharf and not Polar beer.

According to a source, the broker is holding firm to his story, which is that he cleared soft drinks and not Polar beer from the wharf for Fidelity but his story conflicts with what Fidelity has already stated.