–in polar beer probe
Attorneys for several of the Customs and Trade Administration (CTA) employees named in the Polar beer fraud involving Fidelity Investments are calling on the revenue body to handle the internal investigations being conducted carefully, and to provide further details on the allegations being made.
The law firm of Hughes, Fields and Stoby has criticized the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) panel, which has been constituted to investigate the findings of the fraud as set out in the Auditor-General led report, for diverting from allegations put to its clients in writing and raising instead statements contained in the task force report.
According to the law firm, the GRA wrote to its clients on February 3 inviting them to an interview scheduled for February 10. This was followed up by a letter of February 6 with specific allegations. However, on the day of the interviews, the GRA did not put the aforementioned allegations to the employees stating that the letters contained “material discrepancies” and would have to be withdrawn.
Hughes, Fields and Stoby in a letter to the GRA dated yesterday said that in the light of the admission of material discrepancies “we are instructed to request, as we hereby do, the particulars of those aspects of the special investigation which led to our client been the victim of an allegation which contained material discrepancies”.
In the case of one client, the firm said, the conduct of the investigation was structurally and irreparably flawed in that the GRA invited the individual to attend an interview to respond to specific allegations which were never raised.
With respect to that client the GRA letter had said, “it is alleged between March 2007 and December 2007, with intention to defraud the Revenue Authority, you issued a release note in relation to customs declaration No.C39697 on which three containers were imported by Kong Inc, knowing that the said containers were released prior to them being examined”.
Whereas another client’s letter read, “it is alleged between March 2007 and December 2007 at the John Fernandes Terminal, with the intention to defraud the Revenue Authority, you examined 13 40-ft containers in relation to four customs declaration forms for importation done by Kong Inc and declared on the said customs declarations containers in the quantity stated on the release invoices (11,008 cases of assorted aerated beverages and 8,700 cases of soda water) knowing same to be false”.
The law firm said that at the interview, the GRA failed to raise these allegations, but went ahead and grilled the employees on statements contained in the special task force report.
Hughes, Fields and Stoby is awaiting a response from the GRA.
Meanwhile, Stabroek News spoke with attorney-at-law Leslie Sobers who is also representing a CTA employee and he called for the current internal investigations to be handled carefully. He said the GRA panel needs to provide more details on the allegations. However he said his client was able to rebut a string of allegations levelled during the interview.
Sobers said the GRA must conduct a comprehensive investigation assessing “everything and everyone in an attempt to find out who is really involved”. He alluded to a strategy being in place within the GRA that seems to be sacrificing the junior ranks while those holding senior positions are exempted.
The GRA panel currently investigating the findings of the task force report is expected to report back to the Commissioner General.
The task force report, which was released last month and was forwarded to the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice, concluded that fake documents were submitted to customs by both the broker and Fidelity Investments Inc and charges were recommended against a top Fidelity Investments Limited official, a broker and 14 CTA employees from various departments who were said to be complicit in the fraud. Some persons had been dismissed even before the completion of the report.
Auditor General (ag) Deodat Sharma, was asked to head a task force set up by President Bharrat Jagdeo in April to investigate allegations made by a top Fidelity Investments Limited official about an organized scheme to smuggle Polar beer into the country.
Fidelity had proposed a deal with the revenue body: that it would reveal how 73,000 cases of Polar beer were cleared from the wharf without duties being paid in exchange for charges instituted against the company to be dropped.
The Fidelity official then fingered top GRA officials contending that the company had entrusted a customs broker with $142 million to get the shipment from the wharf and the man reportedly arranged with customs to clear the Polar beer as “assorted soft drinks”, since this attracted less tax. The sum of $32 million was then paid to the GRA in taxes and another $70 million was paid to a top customs official who allowed the shipment to leave the wharf and who was also alleged to have facilitated documents being falsified for Fidelity.
However, a few days after this went down, a report was made to the GRA hierarchy and it rushed to seal the Fidelity bond at Broad Street.
The customs broker when approached by the authorities, produced documents showing that soft drinks had been cleared from the wharf and not beer.
The President subsequently ordered the investigation and instituted the task force to conduct it.