There are massive irregularities within the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) credit union and sources are calling for a thorough forensic audit to be conducted to ascertain the extent of the wrongdoing.
A knowledgeable source close to the credit union said such an audit would find that the GDF owes the union in excess of $75 million and that a senior army officer has been interfering in the union’s operations although under the law the credit union is autonomous of the force.
“These are not monies that were borrowed by the force these are just monies that the union was directed to hand over to the force,” the source told Stabroek News recently.
The source also said a senior official has a personal vendetta against Major (ag) Leslie Ramlall, one of two officers recently sent on leave to facilitate an audit of vehicle purchases, which is being seen as the real reason behind the external audit, which is just limited to two years and to auto sales. “I beg to ask the question why only go back two years? Why not go back to when the auto sales started about four years ago?” the source queried.
The GDF had last month announced that the audit would be conducted and that the present and past union secretary/managers were sent on administrative leave.
Ramlall, who is the past secretary/manager, has since moved to the High Court and has been granted orders against Chief-of-Staff Commodore Gary Best and Colonel Enoch Gaskin—the chairman of the union’s Committee of Management—asking them to show cause why their decisions to send him on administrative leave and suspend him from the Committee of Management, respectively, should not be quashed.
Speaking about the huge sum owed by the GDF to the union, the source noted that some of the money was used to build a salon and open a play area for children at Camp Ayanganna. However, access to the play area is limited to officers’ children and the children of officers’ friends. The source noted that the situation is unfortunate since other ranks are members of the union and it was their money too that was used to open the play area.
The salon, on the other hand, is being referred to as a “white elephant,” as it is non-functioning, having been opened only for a few months earlier this year. The hope was that it would have been opened to the public and would have generated funds but it was not even being utilised by members of the GDF. The force had even employed someone to operate the salon but in the end had to let her go because no one was utilising her services.
‘Flaw in the
system’
According to the source, Ramlall had simply benefited from a system that existed long before he became associated with the union.
“I think people have this thing confused and they are trying to say some acts of fraud were being committed. No act of fraud was being perpetrated,” the source said.
The source said there are serious issues with the auto sales department of the union and these were not created by Ramlall. It was noted that the picture being painted is that Ramlall created the irregularities while he was secretary-manager but this is far from the truth. Ramlall, the source noted, received the vehicle long after he was removed as secretary-manager.
“I see it as a simple issue as this: the man did not pay over a certain amount of money over a period of time when he should have,” the source said, adding that was the only mistake Ramlall made.
To address this issue, Ramlall could have been given a period of time to bring his account up to date and if he failed to comply then certain actions could have been taken against him, the source said.
Ramlall, according to the source, had attempted to make a payment of $320,000 on the vehicle after the matter was brought to the fore but this was refused by the union’s Committee of Management. “I find that very, very stupid because which business entity does ever stop collecting money?” the source questioned.
It was also pointed out that the vehicle is registered in Ramlall’s name and since he is the legal owner, the GDF cannot dispose of the vehicle without moving to the courts.
The source disclosed that the system that exists at the auto sales department allows for vehicles to enter the country and be registered in the applicant’s name without any monies being paid over. It was explained that non-members were also allowed to buy vehicles through the auto sales department once they agreed to make certain payments and complete the payment after the vehicle is imported. “But that is where there is one of the flaws in the system, as the money should not be paid to the auto sales department, it should be paid cashier of the union,” the source said, adding that there have been instances where money was paid to the auto sales department but the entire amount was not paid to the union.
According to the source, a senior member of the Committee of Management was aware of Ramlall’s transaction and that he did not make the required down payment. “This bus was imported with the full knowledge of the [name of the individual] who was aware that Leslie [Ramlall] did not have the required amount of down payment, he is aware of that but he is saying now that he was never aware,” the source said.
The source revealed that a disgruntled former officer in the union who was unhappy with initiatives implemented by Ramlall during his short tenure as secretary/manager had learnt that he had not made any payment on the vehicle and had approached the current secretary-manager. The secretary-manager then approached the senior functionary on the Committee of Management, who indicated that he was aware and that the individual should “mind he own business”.
“How is he saying now he is not aware of it? That is what is bugging me. He should stand up and say, I know about it but I thought this man would have done so and so, but instead he is saying, ‘no, I knew nothing,” the source added.
It was noted that Ramlall was removed as secretary/manager shortly after he was appointed because he was attempting to streamline the operations of the union.
It was also noted that earlier this year, the Committee of Management was suspended and a special annual general meeting was convened during which Ramlall was one of the officers who stood up to a senior army functionary. While Ramlall was secretary-manager, the officer wanted certain things purchased by the union but Ramlall “put his foot down” and “this happened more than once and he was subsequently removed.”
“A man who just completed a degree in economics, which I think should head something like that to see how best investments could be made, he was moved from there and somebody else [put] there,” the source said. “That is why everyone sees this as a personal vendetta against Leslie, that officer wants him to apologise to him or something.”
Locked out
The source made the revelation that just around the time the external audit was announced, the GDF’s G2 Branch, which is the intelligence and investigative arm, had moved into the union building and locked out staff members.
G2 officers reportedly removed files from the office, along with the accountant’s computer and the flash drive on which the person who manages the auto sales department kept all of his information. It was noted that there was no record of the files being removed from the office and this is troubling.
Meantime, the source pointed to a $13 million fraud which was committed about four years ago and was handled very differently. According to the source, the fraud was perpetrated in the acquisition of fuel for the GDF’s vehicles through the union. It was discovered that the amount of fuel received or paid for was not utilised. The then secretary-manager, under whose watch this occurred, was sent on a one-year course overseas soon after the fraud was detected, the source said, adding that this development astonished him. In contrast to Ramlall, who was withdrawn from a course that would have seen him attaining the full rank of major, the official was not withdrawn from the course nor was he sent on administrative leave. Although the entire Committee of Management during that period was fired—some members asked to resign before they were removed–no action was taken against the officer, who is now back home and functioning.
In addition, the man who was accused of committing the fraud was not interdicted from duty and right now is still receiving half salary though he was charged and placed before the courts. Although the accountant at that time skipped the country and the cashier was sent on leave, no special audit was done in that case to ascertain whether the then secretary/manager benefited from the fraud. But even if he had not benefited, the source pointed out, he should have been disciplined, since the fraud, which was in the end written off as a bad debt, happened under his watch.
Meanwhile, the current investigation has seen a senior female officer gone Absent Without Leave (AWOL) and the force’s intelligence unit is now hunting for her. This newspaper has been reliably informed that the officer was granted a two-year sabbatical to take up a scholarship, but days before she was expected to travel, the permission was rescinded. Sources said a senior officer engineered this move since she was accused of not “standing in his corner” when he was confronted at the special annual general meeting. The reason given for permission denied was the fact that she was once the lawyer attached to the union and she might be called upon to provide answers during the investigation. As a last resort, the officer requested to be struck off strength (SOS) but was told she has to wait three months. She has since disappeared and sources believe she has fled the jurisdiction.
