President says it didn’t address assets of customs employees
President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday said the Auditor General’s report which probed bribery allegations at customs is now with the Director of Public Prosecutions for a review of the recommended charges and “hopefully (to) have the appropriate charges laid”, as outlined by the task force which conducted the investigation.
Jagdeo had been studying the report, but made no pronouncements on the findings yesterday when he updated the media during a press conference.
He said that it would be tabled in Parliament at an upcoming sitting and would be made public then.
Prior to the President’s disclosure about the current involvement of the DPP’s office, it had been reported that the Auditor General exhausted a considerable amount of time on the report before it was ultimately prepared for him to study it.
Specifically though, the President noted that the report failed to capture the financial standing of officers at the Customs and Trade Administration (CTA), adding that he had hoped the assets of some of the customs officers would have been investigated as stipulated in the terms of reference. He said that when people cannot account for their assets, “they have a lot to answer for”.
But Jagdeo pointed out that a lack of resources might have been the stumbling block for the task force. However, he said at some point the investigation into the assets of some employees must happen.
“Clearly this coverage must happen and if there is need for external help then we will get it, I had promised outside help in the past and we will pay for it”, Jagdeo said in reference to the need for the task force to begin a second probe. He added that persons involved in the fraud must be held accountable.
The report offers details into the bribery scandal that rocked the Customs and Trade Administration (CTA), and documents a series of interviews with those alleged to have been involved.
It also contains key recommendations as regards officials at customs and a string of others allegedly tied to the fraud; suggesting that criminal charges be instituted in some instances. Specifically, the report recommends charges against Fidelity Investments, the company at the centre of the investigation and the scandal.
Sources said the investigation found that officers were openly deceptive about the contents of the containers they had examined and cleared at the wharf for Fidelity as they insisted and even falsified documents stating that soft drinks had been imported by Fidelity.
It is believed that at least one high-ranking official within the GRA, who had been embroiled in the Polar beer scandal involving Fidelity, will face disciplinary action as recommended by the task force, for incompetence; more so failing to detect the corrupt practices of officers working in that division.
