GRA says was acting on tip-off but found only empty cartons
Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Khurshid Sattaur, says he is not in a position to pronounce on the search of a Delhi Street, Prashad Nagar house on Thursday where it was alleged valuable items were stolen since investigations are ongoing.
Azeem Baksh, a licensed gold and diamond dealer and owner of the house, said three GRA officials visited his residence yesterday and took statements from him, his caretakers and four construction workers who were present during the search on Thursday.
This followed Baksh’s visit to Sattaur on Thursday afternoon after he allegedly discovered $1.5 million and 27 ounces of raw gold missing from his ground-floor office. Baksh said the articles went missing after the premises was searched by five men who, according to him, failed to properly identify themselves as enforcement officers from GRA.
Baksh said that during his visit to the Commissioner General’s office, Sattaur had asked whether he “smuggled liquor”. Further, he said the GRA has still not given him any reason for searching his premises. The businessman has since sought legal advice.
Meanwhile, in a press statement issued yesterday afternoon, the GRA said it received information that the Delhi Street premises contained “uncustomed [duties not paid] or prohibited liquor or goods”.
Based on this information, GRA said, a team of enforcement officers was dispatched to the location for the purpose of conducting a search. Only a quantity of “empty cartons” was discovered during the search, GRA said.
It added that “GRA officers, particularly Customs Officers, are authorized under the Customs Act to carry out searches and seizures. Such searches are carried out without warrants except where there is no writ of assistance.” GRA explained that a Writ of Assistance was issued by the High Court and stood in place of a search warrant.
A writ of assistance is a court order to a law enforcement officer, used as an open-ended type of warrant by customs officials to search homes and businesses for smuggled goods on which import duties have not been paid.
When this was explained to Baksh he said it was preposterous that “a piece of paper gives the GRA the right to invade my home, harass my employees and cause me to suffer personal losses”. The businessman stressed that GRA was causing him unnecessary trouble.
Baksh said he learnt from his caretaker yesterday that the five men, identified as enforcement officers by the GRA, had produced a document. However, Baksh said, his caretaker is illiterate and would not have known what the document contained.
Using the law as further justification for the search conducted on the Delhi Street home GRA quoted Section 207 of the Customs Act which states: “any officer having a writ of assistance issued by the High Court (which is hereby authorized and required to grant such writs upon application by the Comptroller) may, by day or night, enter into and search any house, shop, cellar, warehouse, room or other place, and in case of resistance break open doors, chests, trunks and other packages, and seize and bring away any uncustomed or prohibited goods, or any books or documents relating thereto, and put and secure the same in a State warehouse.”
“My caretaker is not the owner of the house,” Baksh stated. “So I don’t think he should have been presented with that document… it should have been brought to me and they should have conducted that search in my presence… if that were the case then I don’t think I would have lost anything.”
Baksh had previously told Stabroek News that he was driving by his house when he saw “a group of four or five strange men” and stopped to investigate. He said at that time the men provided no identification to show that they were from GRA and he thought that they were bandits.
The businessman said the men demanded he disembark his vehicle but he refused and drove off. According to Baksh, he then tried contacting his caretaker on his cellular phone but the man’s mobile was turned off. He said he later learnt from the caretaker that the enforcement officers had ordered him to turn off his phone.
“The caretaker told me that the men came to the gate said they were from customs and demanded he let them in,” Baksh explained. “He refused to let them in and told them that he had to call me… they threatened to enter by force if he didn’t unlock the gate… he was scared and let them in and they took his phone away and switched it off .”
Sometime during this string of events, Baksh reported, the men produced the paper to the caretaker. However, he said the caretaker insisted that it was only that paper that was produced and the men never provided any customs identification card.
One of the four construction workers present at the time of the search, Baksh said, related that while some of the men escorted the caretaker around the house as they searched, the others remained downstairs. Further, Baksh said, the same construction worker recalled seeing a firearm on one of the men.
“Everything that I am telling you now we have already given in our statements to the three GRA men that Sattaur sent here today [yesterday],” Baksh said. “I am certain that my cash and gold went missing during that search.”
In its statement, the GRA denied Baksh’s allegations and maintained that its officers had shown Baksh and his caretaker identification. It stated that Baksh drove away when the officers presented their identification cards and provided him with the reason for their presence.
According to GRA, while Sattaur has “listened to the reports of both his officers and the businessman” he is still not able to pronounce on the matter since other departments have been involved to investigate the matter.
Any officers found guilty of wrong of any wrong doings, Sattaur said, will be dealt with appropriately as provided by Guyana’s laws and/or the GRA’s code of conduct.
The Commissioner General said Baksh’s allegations are “self serving”. He described the reports about the matter carried by print and broadcast media yesterday as “defamatory and libellous”.
These reports, Sattaur said, were carried “without consulting the GRA” and the authority was contemplating instituting legal action since the reports were likely to have damaging effects on the public image and credibility of the organisation.
According to Sattaur, the allegations “could be an attempt to tarnish [the] image of authority” and intimidate the officers of GRA.
Stabroek News visited Sattaur’s Lamaha Street office shortly after 11.30 am yesterday, but he refused to answer any of the questions put to him. This visit was preceded by several phone calls to a number of GRA officials and Sattaur’s office.
“Why are you asking questions now?” Sattaur demanded. “I have nothing to tell you. I told [a private newspaper] about this thing yesterday [Thursday] and they toned down their report.”
Repeated attempts to ask the Commissioner General about the firearm one of his officers allegedly had met with the same reaction.
“Do you have any idea what you [the media] have done to the image of GRA?” Sattaur asked repeatedly during the ten-minute encounter.
