President Bharrat Jagdeo is not in support of conducting a probe into the financial dealings of Clico (Guyana) since he believes that such an investigation would only disclose what has already been established through an audit of the company.
Asked during a press conference on Friday if he would follow the example of the Trinidadian government which has ordered an investigation into CL Financial and have a similar probe for Clico (Guyana), Jagdeo said it was clear what had led to the collapse of the local company. And according to him, that was “bad investments”.
“We can track where the money is. Because Clico (Guyana) every cent that they spent we can track it. It is not as it if disappeared or it was siphoned…,” Jagdeo said. According to the President it can be established that Clico (Guyana) had inter-company links which were responsible for its collapse. “What we haven’t found is any money that was invested by people here that disappeared. We can see where the money went but we can’t get back the money. That’s the problem,” Jagdeo said.
“I can do an investigation if it would serve any purpose. But it will tell us the same thing. We have had an audit of the company to find where the money that we put in the company…where it went.”
Jagdeo contended that the situation with CL Financial in Trinidad and Tobago was different since it was a huge company with several subsidiaries which had a whole range of other issues outside the failure of the institution.
Jagdeo, during a press conference last year April, had said that his government would support an opposition parliamentary motion to have a criminal investigation into Clico (Guyana) as long as it was extended to Globe Trust. Following this announcement by the President, the PNCR indicated that it was in support of such an investigation.
Meanwhile on Friday, Jagdeo said that the country is challenging a ruling in the Bahamian court that classified the $6.9 billion (US$34M) Clico (Guyana) placed in Clico (Bahamas) as an investment in the company rather than as a deposit.
The Head of State once again criticized the court for its sloth in liquidating the local company. “I am very, very upset and I hope that people who have money in Clico will join the government in urging the judiciary to move on this matter,” Jagdeo said. “We have close to $4 billion sitting to give back people their money… at least a large number of people. I don’t want this to become another Globe Trust issue. Where one or two persons, crazy people can stymie so many people in getting their money….”, he added.
Meanwhile, quizzed about the presence of Geeta Singh-Knight on the GuySuCo Board since she was the CEO who presided over the bad investment of Clico (Guyana), Jagdeo said “I think the person has significant skills, frankly speaking.” He said while it may have been bad judgment on her part there was no evidence of corruption.
According to the President, cases of bad investments were possible especially in times of financial crises.
Following the collapse of Clico (Bahamas) last year February, Clico (Guyana) was placed under judicial management. It was discovered that the $6.9 billion placed in the Bahamian company was 53 per cent of the local company’s assets.
Although these investments were liquid on paper, subsequent investigations revealed that this sum has been tied up in real estate investments that Clico (Bahamas) had in Florida through subsidiaries. Then judicial manager Maria van Beek had recommended that the company be wound up. But a legal team representing the directors of the institution is currently challenging this in the High Court.
