Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Captain Gerald Gouveia says former Roger Khan attorney Robert Simels met with him three years ago to ascertain whether the now confessed drug trafficker was recognized in business circles here.
Simels testified under oath on Tuesday during his US trial that he had met with Gouveia among several others in Guyana while working on the Khan case, a claim Gouveia confirmed yesterday when contacted.
The meeting was arranged because Gouveia was President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) at the time, and Simels was seeking confirmation as to whether Khan was a GCCI member.
Gouveia said that Simels was investigating the claim by Khan that he was a local businessman.
“He asked whether Roger Khan was a member of the chamber and I said no because he wasn’t”, Gouveia stated.
Simels told the US court that he was investigating “the fact that in Guyana Roger Khan was a hero for taking on the Taliban (a reference to a once Buxton-based gang)”. He said that his former client had advised him that he was not a drug dealer but a Guyanese businessman.
The conversation with Simels was brief, Gouveia said, since he “was rushing off to Ogle [East Coast Demerara] following a plane crash”. Gouveia recalled that on the day he met with the attorney the Kopinang crash had occurred resulting in the death of the pilot, Rohan Sharma and two other persons, passengers Earnestina Moses and two-month-old Britney Perreira.
The PSC Chairman noted also that Simels wanted to discuss the issue of security in Guyana. Based on what he remembers Gouveia said that Simels had also met with the then Chairman on Govern-ance and Security within the PSC to “talk about the security issue”.
Stabroek News also contacted Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Khurshid Sattaur whose name was mentioned by Simels as someone he met while here.
The revenue boss said that he had no comment because he was in talks with his lawyers on the issue. He said that he would prefer to seek legal advice on how to handle the allegation before pronouncing on the matter. Further, Sattaur added that he was taken aback when his name surfaced during the US court trial.
Simels has alleged meeting with several key government officials on behalf of his client while in Guyana, namely Health Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy and Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee. Ramsammy has rejected the claim and Rohee said, “no comment”.
The former Khan attorney who had alleged government ties to Khan testified publicly for the first time this week, and he said from the witness stand that Ramsammy authorized the purchase of the intercept equipment. The government and Ramsammy have repeatedly denied any connection to the equipment.
Simels, who, along with his assistant, Arianne Irving, has been indicted on witness-tampering charges among others, had previously repeated claims that Khan received permission from the Guyana government to purchase surveillance equipment capable of intercepting and tracing telephone calls made from landline or cellular phones.
Further, Simels testified that he also met with named drug dealers in Guyana on his trips to gather information. He said the dealers came to the Pegasus and he met some persons at a home in Guyana. Simels said that Khan named another “businessman and associate” (in the timber business).
Additionally, Simels’ testimony included claims that before taking on the Khan case in August of 2006 he never knew Khan or heard about Guyana except when someone reminded him of an infamous incident that occurred several years ago. Simels said that he spent his time reading about Guyana from books and internet editions of Guyanese newspapers.
