Canadian company employee alleges shakedown by ministry official

-over Exxon suppliers list

An employee from a Canadian human resource firm has alleged that in 2018 he was asked to pay “up to $50,000 USD per month” by a GDF officer working at the Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP) to have his company’s name on ExxonMobil’s preferred list of suppliers.

“They stated that it could be up to $50,000 USD per month which is evidenced in the emails,” the employee of Karica Corp, who asked to remain anonymous, told Stabroek News from Canada.

Providing a string of emails between himself and the MoTP official, the employee is asking that an investigation be launched into the then operations of procurement of contracts for the US oil conglomerate.

The allegations would represent one of the most serious cases to date in the developing oil and gas industry particularly as it allegedly occurred in the Ministry of the Presidency.

This newspaper reached out to speak to the officer through Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Public Relations Officer, Heppilena Ferguson but the officer would not speak. The GDF requires certain protocols be followed before servicemen could speak to press.

Ferguson, nonetheless, informed that during the period that the Karica employee alleges that officer would have been in communication with him the GDF officer was overseas on training studies and only returned home late last year and the email address provided as used by the Canadian is not that of the army officer.

Then Minister of State and current Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon says that not only are the allegations “absurd”  but the  timing, mere days before the General Elections, is suspicious and seems a political move to blemish the APNU+AFC party.

He said that all businesses would know that ExxonMobil has had the Centre for Local Business Development, which was opened since July 2017, handle all of its transactions and that the Ministry of the Presidency in no way influences any of the processes there.

Harmon said that in 2017 he was never responsible for the oil and gas sector as the President is the Minister of Petroleum but because a representative would be needed in the National Assembly for legislative matters, he was designated that person.

“This is absurd to think that a colonel in the Guyana Defence Force would seek to represent oil matters. This is a soldier who has no operational mandate over that process. I strongly believe that if this person is so convicted in what he says, that he doesn’t have to hide behind a veil and should come out of the dark and show his face,” Harmon told Stabroek News when contacted on Wednesday evening.

“Absolute rubbish… If he was so passionate about transparency, why wait until two years after to come out. Why did he not make a complaint since then? Didn’t he know about the Centre for Local Business Development? He needs to come out and answer pertinent questions,” he added.

The Karica employee said he raised his complaint with an ExxonMobil official but was brushed off. 

This newspaper emailed Exxon on if it has received a complaint from the employee named by the Karica employee  but up to press time the company had not replied.

Disclaimer

Since 2017 Exxon has been issuing notices that there should be no fee to register to get work from the company.

In October of 2017, the company published a notice to this effect. “ExxonMobil wishes to advise that there is NO CHARGE/FEE to register your business or seek employment with ExxonMobil/EEPGL.  Businesses interested in working with ExxonMobil are advised to register at the Centre for Local Business Development, on South Road, Bourda; the top flat of the IPED building. If approached and in doubt or have questions, please contact Exxon Mobil at 592-231-2866.”

The company also issued a disclaimer saying “ExxonMobil/EEPGL will not be responsible in any regard in respect of such unsolicited request/activity”.

Only recently the company published a similar public advisory. It said that ExxonMobil and its affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) have been alerted to the activities of persons and/or  agencies falsely claiming to be representatives of ExxonMobil, and requesting moneys from unsuspecting businesses to facilitate them doing business with ExxonMobil/EEPGL. Please note that ExxonMobil/EEPGL has no relation to such persons and or agencies and takes a serious view on such scams and fraudulent activities. We therefore, advise you to be alert and to report any such approach to the police,” it said.

The Karica employee said that in July of 2018, his firm approached ExxonMobil about the process of becoming one of its service providers. He said that the company directed him to Harmon’s office through the GDF colonel.

The Karica employee wrote the MoTP employee stating “If you have a moment in your busy schedule, I would be interested to learn more about how we might possibly work together with Exxon Mobil in Guyana and be included on the preferred list for technical and non-technical hiring and other training/consulting opportunities that may arise. Any insight that you may have into this would be appreciated”.

The same day, less than an hour later,  the MoTP employee replied telling the Karica employee that “I alone don’t pull the strings for companies to be added to the list but I ll float your companies name around and get back to you”.

It is unclear if another email was sent but the Karica employee received another email later on the same day explaining that he was “just one round on a 3 stepped ladder” as he and “a few others filter out those that qualify to be placed on the list and then pass that list unto the minister where he goes through them and also seeks my approval again in approving them.”  He said that the list goes over to the Ministry of Business to be “prescribed to Exxon”.

“We try to make sure everyone has a piece of the pie and no no RFP [Request for proposal] package is required as it’s not an open process…,” the email bearing the MoTP employee’s name says.

Less than half an hour later, another email was sent from the Karica employee who asked if the MoTP employee was free for “dinner or a drink next week”.

Another half an hour would pass and a reply was sent hinting at a monetary reward for services. “You making the cut is of no issue. Though I’m inclining to be frank with you I cannot do so over this medium…”

Emails would continue and the MoTP official said that he could gauge payment based on the contract amount types that ExxonMobil awards. “I hope you are a confidential person. Basically the companies pay to be on the list. Aside from the required taxes. There’s companies that own 2 to 4 companies that are all on the list because it’s very lucrative as Exxon gives out multi-million dollar contracts…the smallest I think was within the USD$50,000 a month range. I leave the rest to your imagination. I hope what I’ve said will be kept in strict confidence. So that’s why I asked you the other day what are you bringing to the table,” the email stated.

The Karica employee provides July 20th as the last day of correspondence between the two when communications were broken off.

The Karica employee says that Guyana deserves better and thinks that his story would bring to the fore corruption in Guyana saying that with the emerging oil and gas sector, this country needs to do better and not “shake down potential suppliers under the guise of how things are done in Guyana”.