After being on leave for five months, General Manager of the Guyana Gold Board, Anantram Balram has resigned.
The move came following investigations into the multimillion dollar fraud discovered at the Bartica sub-office of the Gold Board in March of this year.
The source said Balram went on leave in June to facilitate the investigations into a scheme at the Gold Board’s Bartica branch which may have led to the state losing hundreds of millions of dollars.
Efforts to contact Balram yesterday proved futile. The Ministry of Natural Resources has not said anything on the completion of the probe.
The sub-office had closed in March and the police were called in to probe allegations of tampering during the purchase of gold. To date it has not been reopened as it awaits the Bartica office of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) which it will share accommodation with. It is likely to be opened by year end.
The scam involved the purity of gold being assessed at more than what it actually was. According to sources close to the investigation, the gold was mixed and recorded by the staff in the books as of a higher purity than it actually was.
According to the source, it would be difficult to ascertain how much was lost and the fraud could be in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars since it has been ongoing for a while. This is not the first time this particular type of fraud was suspected at the Bartica office which is a key transit point from gold bearing areas.
During the investigations at Bartica, several persons were arrested but none was ever charged.
This newspaper was told that five staff members from the branch were fired along with three others who worked in the Georgetown laboratory of the Gold Board.
Balram, who was the General Manager, was asked to go on leave so that the investigation could be facilitated. Following his resignation, the Gold Board has advertised for a new General Manager.
President of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association, Patrick Harding had complained that the closure of the Bartica office of the Gold Board was affecting miners who normally sell their gold there and they are now subject to the varying prices offered by other gold dealers.
This newspaper was reliably informed that the miners’ problems may soon come to an end as the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry has been given a licence to buy and sell gold at Bartica.
