Up to press time last evening, there was still no word from the police force on the submission of a damning report from the recently-concluded audit of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
Police Commissioner Leslie James had told the media last Monday that he expected to be in possession of the report later in the week. When contacted by this newspaper subsequently, he declined to say whether or not he was in possession of the document.
“I am going to disclose whether I got it or not… through my PRO [Public Relations Officer],” he had said.
When contacted yesterday, police PRO Jairam Ramlakhan told Stabroek News that James has not said anything to him about the report.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that the investigation was completed and the report finalised more than a week ago and that it uncovered serious irregularities, including the falsification of records, and it has recommended immediate transfers of at least two officials and a fraud investigation of several of the discrepancies.
Efforts to contact Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan on the findings and the call made by the opposition for him to resign were futile. He is said to still be abroad on official business.
It was James who in February ordered the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Audit Department to conduct an audit following claims of grave mismanagement, which included the misuse of its operational fund, made by former SOCU adviser Dr Sam Sittlington and which were later confirmed by staff.
Stabroek News was told that the GPF’s Audit Department focused on the years 2016 to 2019, during which time over $52 million is said to have been collected by SOCU from the Ministry of Public Security for its operational fund.
The fund is to be used for the payment of SOCU informants, the rental of vehicles for surveillance, the maintenance of the unit’s building, and basic administrative expenses, among other things, but Sittlington as well as others who spoke with this newspaper on the condition of anonymity had voiced concerns about how it was being used.
Sources told Stabroek News that during the period under audit, several staff members received sums totalling millions of dollars and while it was claimed in most cases that the money was for intelligence gathering, there was no corroborating documentation. Further, the money paid out to the staff was not far off from what was paid out to informants/sources.
In one instance, the examination of payments of more than half a million dollars each to three ranks in one month in 2016 is said to have uncovered receipts that were backdated to make the payouts look legitimate.
Stabroek News was also informed that the auditors were hampered by the absence of receipts and the lack of records for some expenditure.
There was also evidence of unsigned entries in the financial records, while an official has alleged that their signature was forged.
This newspaper was told that it was found that some of the listed expenditure was concocted. There are reportedly numerous cases where purchases were recorded but when the auditors checked with vendors, including a number of established businesses, it was discovered that SOCU collected quotations but never made the purchases.
Also highlighted were irregular transactions between SOCU and a number of businesses. Sources said the auditors found invoices that were duplicated or tampered with, fraudulent double entries, and false entries.
SOCU is headed by Assistant Commissioner Sydney James, who is one of more than a dozen persons interviewed by the police force’s auditors. Sydney James is a former army intelligence officer.
Sittlington, who was sacked by the UK government for establishing a local branch of his Ireland-based security company, had told this newspaper that tensions arose between him and the SOCU head when he began to question the spending of funds set aside for the operation of SOCU and requested “certain information” late last year.
He said, too, that from his observations, items such as printers, ink, paper and toiletries, which are essential to the smooth functioning of the office and the comfort of those who worked there, were not available. Additionally, he said, investigators were not being given mobile phone credit and there was no internet available.
He said he managed to procure a printer for the office but added that for three months, there was no ink before he eventually managed to get the required funds from the British High Commission to purchase it.
SOCU officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, had also told this newspaper that in violation of anti-money laundering laws, seized cash was being kept at the unit and in some cases at the Guyana Police Force’s Finance Department. It was explained that the money ought to be in an interest bearing account. The staff said concerns over the state of affairs were raised on numerous occasions but nothing was done.
According to Sittlington, late last year he raised the issue with a senior police officer, who promised to take action, but nothing was done.
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has since called for the unit to be shut down and for an independent forensic audit to be conducted towards prosecuting all personnel implicated in wrongdoing.
SOCU was established in 2014 by the then PPP administration. Since leaving office in 2015 the party has accused of government of interfering in the work of the unit and issuing directives which targeted members of the party.
