Customs officers yesterday unearthed $14M in counterfeit Guyana currency hidden among some items in a barrel which had been sitting at the John Fernandes Wharf for almost two years now.
The stunning discovery was made late yesterday morning after a decision was taken to open up the barrel which was shipped from London through the Harrison Shipping Company in May, 2006 to an Essequibo Coast resident.
Up to last evening, no one had been arrested in relation to the find and although Customs have said that the money found was fake the police will be conducting their own tests.
John Fernandes Ltd yesterday said that the find is now a police matter so the company had no comment to make at this point in time. This newspaper later spoke to an official from Harrison Shipping Company.
According to a Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) statement, the counterfeit money and other articles which were sent two years ago were discovered during routine duties at the city wharf.
The barrel, GRA said, was selected for inspection as it was identified as want- of-entry, meaning its time for clearance was long overdue.
“The Customs Act stipulates that once cargo is entered within 30 days after arrival of a vessel, it is deemed want of entry and the GRA has the authority to dispose of such cargo”, the statement said adding that, the money was contained in a steel barrel, which originated from London. It arrived in the country on May 5, 2006 and the consignee uplifted the documents to clear the consignment on May 11, 2006 but never did.
The GRA yesterday said that as a criminal offence had been committed the police were called in and the money, 13,956 $1,000 notes and 183 $500 notes, was handed over to them.
When Stabroek News arrived at the wharf around midday, ranks from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had not yet arrived. About four of them arrived in a pick-up a few minutes later and immediately went into one of the company’s buildings to begin their investigations.
About fifteen minutes after the police arrived, Stabroek News noticed a man hurrying into the building with a money counter on his shoulder.
Up to when this newspaper left nearly two hours after, the police had not concluded their investigation there and reports were that the counting process was not over. Stabroek News was told that the money needed to be counted again to verify that the first count was correct.
Sources said that the money was in numerous piles hidden among items in the barrel which included pens, towels and tools. As the customs officers removed the items from the barrel, they discovered the money piles.
A London address and a Supenaam, Essequibo Coast address were printed on the barrel, this newspaper was told.
Contacted yesterday, a woman who said she was in charge of the Harrison Shipping Company but wished to remain unnamed told Stabroek News that it was a Supenaam, Essequibo man who uplifted the documents to collect the barrel from the wharf.
The woman said that when the container with barrels, boxes and parcels arrives at the wharf, the company’s officials would unpack it. The items would then be left there. She said that it is then the recipient’s responsibility to go into the office and collect the documents to uplift them. The woman said that the company would draw up documents for each individual’s package which would be given to customers once identification is produced.
The woman told Stabroek News that she has since handed over the book with the person’s signature and ID number to the police so that they can carry out their investigations.
When the customer goes to uplift an item from the wharf, they have to fill out a customs document before the barrel or box is examined by a Customs official and its value assessed in their presence.
Training in
counterfeit detection
The GRA said that over the years there has been a robust training programme to enhance the capacity of its employees and the organization continues to strive to improve its efficiency. The GRA said too that staffers, especially those in the Customs Department were trained to differentiate between counterfeit and genuine currency.
Officials of the Central Bank conducted the training exercise and the Bank’s official stressed that counterfeiting carries serious penalties including life imprisonment while the penalty for knowingly passing on counterfeit currency to another person is 14 years imprisonment, the GRA said yesterday.
