Origin of gold seized in Suriname may never be known – source

The police are not sure they would ever be able to determine if the gold seized from three men who were attempting to smuggle it into Suriname, was that taken from Bartica the night 12 persons were killed by gunmen.

The three men: Richard Sarjoo, Isaac Sarjoo and Roy Arjune were apprehended by authorities in the Dutch-speaking territory with a substantial amount of gold. They had taken the precious mineral there to sell since the laws are a bit more favourable in terms of royalties and taxed which would have to be paid.

The trio has since returned to Guyana and has been charged with illegally exporting gold without paying royalties. A fourth man, Albert Arjune, was charged with conspiring to export gold illegally between December 1, 2007 and March 3, 2008.
The police, a source informed, are in possession of no information to suggest that tests could be conducted on the confiscated mineral to determine whether it would have come from any particular area. This would make it difficult to ascertain whether the gold found might have been stolen from the two Bartica businessmen, Gurudat Singh and Chunilall Baboolall.

Baboolall is the proprietor of CB&R Mining and Singh is a gold and diamond dealer, both lost substantial amounts of gold on the night of February 17.

Asked about the state of the mineral recovered in Suriname as compared to that which was stolen from two different locations the night of the killings, the source said he doubted the gold seized in Suriname and that which was stolen were in the same form.
He revealed that the Suriname booty was processed gold, melted into small bars. Investigations have revealed that the Bartica gold was not in this form when stolen, he said.

“At least in terms of general appearance, it was not the same quality. But then the state of the mineral could be changed through processing,” the source said.

Investigations are continuing.

A well-placed source had told Stabroek News that the trio might have been part of a well-established gold smuggling link, supported by a network of Chinese businessmen operating out of Suriname. The source said it was suspected that some persons with close links to mining camps purchase gold illegally, accumulate it until it was a large amount and then smuggled it to neighbouring Suriname where the laws were a bit more favourable. In Guyana, miners are subject to a five per cent royalty as well as two per cent tax.

“So the police there may have caught up with some from that chain of smugglers,” the source had said.

On February 17, when gunmen stormed Bartica, their first attack was on the police station where three policemen were shot and killed. They then went to the CB&R Mining Company where they shot and killed a security guard and stole 12 guns, a quantity of gold and some petty cash, which was bolted in an iron safe. Baboolall had not revealed to this newspaper, the amount of gold stolen, neither had the police in any of its statements regarding the robbery.

The gunmen also destroyed security cameras at the location.
They then proceeded to the home of Singh where it was reported that they escaped with a safe. No one at this home was either injured or killed. The source told this newspaper that the gunmen had escaped with a large quantity of gold after they broke into Singh’s home.

The source explained to this newspaper that many gold dealers had been taking advantage of the Guyana Gold Board’s location in Bartica to sell of their gold and that this was being done to prevent any security risk of holding gold at their homes or offices.