Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Presidency Omar Shariff, who is now the subject of a financial crimes probe, believes he was sent on leave as a smokescreen because he had begun unearthing massive corruption, including the alleged misuse of international donor funds, a source close to him said.
Shariff, according to one source, is also confident that the current investigation of him, led by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), will reveal that the money that has passed through his accounts over the past 10 years were from a legitimate business transactions.
“His business is legitimate and above board and there is no other issue other than a tax issue which he should be resolving with GRA [Guyana Revenue Authority] in the coming weeks,” the source told Stabroek News.
“…The PS even went as far as complaining to Minister Harmon [Minister of State Joseph Harmon] about a fraud involving a foreign donor fund, which is being covered up for the past few months; from all indications this seems to be only the tip of the iceberg,” the source further stated, while adding that his “billion-dollar question” is whether the move against him was because he was “unearthing a number of instances of corruption and fraud.”
Shariff, a former PPP Central Committee member, was sent on leave in late June to facilitate the SOCU investigation and his attorney, Sanjeev Datadin, had told Stabroek News that the investigation involved a personal business that he operates and had nothing to do with his job at the ministry. Datadin had also raised concerns about media reports suggesting that his client has billions of dollars, saying that not only are they untrue but that they have put his safety at risk.
Because of the nature of the investigation, the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) will also play a part. A source with knowledge of the matter told Stabroek News that at this point Shariff is the sole subject of the investigation. The source said too that information will have to be sought from the bank/s at which Shariff holds accounts.
According to the source, both agencies have already collected Shariff’s financial statements from his bankers and are still analysing them.
Questioned by Stabroek News as to the billions reportedly held by Shariff, the source said that the figure represents the total amount of funds that had passed through his accounts over a period of time for specified transactions and rubbished claims that any of the accounts’ balances were in the billions or even hundreds of millions.
“They are totalling monies passing though his account. It is not at a given time he has a $1 billion or $10 billion. It is for periods, say two years or three years and if that is so, he will have that amount passing through the account,” the source said.
“Billions? What Billions? There is no billions. He has $2 million in shares that he bought… He is one of the largest distributors and sellers of phone card and minutes in Guyana, for both telephone companies, maybe the second largest agent/distributor… and has been doing this job for the past 15 years. He has a $30 million credit facility with GTT and he would buy, say $20 million at one time… Every time he sells a $5 million it goes into the bank. So, it is a constant flow of money every single day of millions going through his accounts but the money goes back to GTT… He buys credit from Airtime, the company that sells for Digicel for that credit,” the source explained.
The source said Shariff’s only issues relate to taxes and that soon will be rectified with the GRA. “Since 2007, when they brought out phone card and minutes, it was always an issue with GRA whether phone cards and minutes were VAT-able… They have never been able to record it … There are documents to show this and it has never been resolved over the years. So, he submits all his accounts to GRA but what he has not been doing is remitting VAT and because they can’t say if it is VAT-able or not, that has an impact on his income tax… If you pay VAT, you make less money, less of the money is yours… VAT has been outstanding for him for the last 10 years and everyone knows that,” the source stated.
Asked if Shariff’s accounts are currently frozen, the source said they are not but that at one stage of the investigation they were. “He has more than one account with the banks… It is three accounts at GBTI but they are saying he has six accounts in this bank and these kinds of wild things that can easily be explained and SOCU knows… Every one of his accounts can be counterchecked,” the source said, while referencing recent newspaper reports.
The source added that Shariff will soon answer questions about the source of his business capital, whether his business is still in operation and many other questions that are unanswered.
