Almost three weeks after Attorney General Anil Nandlall insinuated in a secret recording that President Donald Ramotar had been in talks with the wife of Kaieteur News owner Glenn Lall to have tax evasion charges against them dropped, the president has finally issued a denial.
At a press conference at the Office of the President yesterday, President Ramotar stated that he had been planning on making a statement about the issue before and emphasised that he had not had any discussion with Bhena Lall, Glenn’s wife, about the charges.
“I can tell you now that I never had any discussion with her relating to any
tax issues,” Ramotar said. He continued, “That was what was implied, that was what was said, and that’s the interpretation that came out of that… but we did
not speak.”
He further said that though he knew the woman and would speak with her, he had never had any negotiations and “could not have had any negotiations on tax issues.”
In the recorded conversation between Nandlall and a reporter of Kaieteur News, the Attorney General is heard intimating that President Ramotar participated in conversations with Bhena Lall on an ongoing criminal matter in return for less critical reporting by her co-defendant husband.
Nandlall was heard saying, “I already, I sent a message already and I… Bhena has been in contact with the president, they are very close, right but Glenn is not keeping up his end of the bargain, the things them that Bhena spoke, they work out an arrangement.”
Hours after the recording was made public, the government defended Nandlall and stated that the recording had been distorted and manipulated. President Ramotar once again maintained this defence yesterday, although government has announced that it would seek to authenticate the recording.
