Fidelity Investments is expected to be charged this week in connection with a shipment of Polar beer two weeks ago even as a larger two-month-old probe of another consignment that snared senior Customs officials continues.
Well placed sources said charges have already been drawn up against the company and are expected to be laid by tomorrow when Fidelity will have to answer for allegedly producing falsified documents to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) two weeks ago.
The most recent investigation came after custom officials detected that a low valuation was presented on behalf of Fidelity for the two containers of Polar beer two weeks ago. Several customs officials are currently being grilled over this.
When contacted yesterday by Stabroek News, Commis-sioner General of the GRA, Khurshid Sattaur would neither confirm nor deny the allegations or that a new investigation was underway. He told Stabroek News that everything would be known in time.
Sources say that Fidelity is to be charged under the Customs Act, Article 217 for wilfully presenting falsified documents to customs. The charge draws a fine of $10,000 together with a period of imprisonment not less than twelve months and no greater than three years.
Since bribery allegations involving Fidelity erupted within the GRA in April the company has gone unscathed as the investigation probe rolls on. Some observers say that Fidelity should face criminal charges for its role in allegedly bribing custom officials to clear a shipment of over 73,000 cases of polar beer.
But it has been in excess of two months and there has been no word on the progress and results of the earlier investigation.
Auditor General (ag) Deodat Sharma, who is heading the task force set up by President Bharrat Jagdeo in April to probe the underhand activities of several customs officials, was unavailable when Stabroek News sought a comment on the bribery probe last week.
Since April 28, seventeen employees who were sent on indefinite leave have been reporting to the police on a weekly basis.
A customs broker who had worked for Fidelity is also among those being questioned. A senior Fidelity official made bombshell revelations about an organised scheme to smuggle polar beer into the country triggering the April probe and resulting in several senior customs officials being sent on leave.
Fidelity fingered GRA officials by spilling how it entrusted the customs broker with $142M to get the shipment from the wharf. The man reportedly came up with a deal with customs to clear the Polar beers under the category of ‘assorted soft drinks’. The sum of $32M was then paid to the revenue body in taxes and another $70M was paid to a top customs official who allowed the shipment to leave the wharf and who is also alleged to have facilitated documents being falsified for Fidelity.
But within days of the deal being struck, someone reported to a GRA official that the beer had left the wharf without taxes being paid resulting in the GRA moving to seal off the Fidelity bond at Broad Street.
To date, five employees have been fired from the GRA and they too have been asked to appear before the police because they could be facing criminal charges. Yesterday the employees currently on leave in addition to the five turned up at the police HQ after being told to go back and six persons were singled out for further questioning.
Stabroek News was told that the other employees were told to go home and return in another few days while the police are to make contact with the six today.
