The current audit of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) credit union by accounting firm Ram & McRae is limited to loans granted for the purchasing of vehicles for officers in the army, but a source familiar with the investigation says that it should be wider.
Recently, the GDF announced the investigation, which is based on a request by the credit union’s Committee of Management to the Ministry of Labour, in the wake of allegations of impropriety in the acquisition of vehicles.
“The Committee of Management contacted the office to conduct an investigation, particularly into the transaction of vehicle loans,” the source told this newspaper. This latest revelation is cause for concerns for at least one of the senior officers sent on leave by the GDF to facilitate the investigation. The GDF had said that the current Secretary Manager and a past Secretary Manager have been sent on administrative leave to facilitate the audit.
A source close to the officer had indicated that he had no issue with the audit being done but wanted all aspects of the credit union’s operations looked into. Stabroek News contacted Christopher Ram on the investigation but he said he could not comment.
This newspaper had been reliably informed that the GDF credit union, one of the largest of 24 such organisations registered with the Guyana Cooperative Credit Union League, had been experiencing difficulties associated with what a league source described as “serious operational problems.”
It has been alleged that money from the credit union was being used for the establishment of enterprises such as hair salons but were not released as loans. In addition, it has also been claimed that the GDF owes money to the credit union for various services rendered.
One of the persons sent home to facilitate the audit is alleging that he is being victimised by senior officers in the force that have a vendetta against him.
According to the source, the only reason the external audit is now being sought is because a senior officer discovered that one of the men has purchased a vehicle through a loan from the credit union. According to sources, the credit union has no policy regarding the purchase of vehicles and persons can purchase vehicles without any paper trail to ascertain the status of the repayments for the loan taken to purchase it.
Persons close to the credit union are questioning why the two officers have been sent on leave, since the GDF credit union is independent of the army and the officers’ army duties would in no way interfere in the affairs of the external audit.
It was also pointed out that none of the officers can be close to the operation of the credit union once the investigation is ongoing; however, on the other hand, senior functionaries in the army have the power to instruct any officer in the GDF. “It, therefore, means that they could call and instruct any officer to do anything and that officer would do it without question because those are their superiors but the two officers they sent on leave have no such power,” another source said.
Chief Cooperatives Development Officer Kareem Abdul Jabar was on vocation at the time when the request was made and the person who was acting in his stead contracted the services of Ram & Mc Rae to conduct the investigation. It is not clear who is paying for the services of the accounting firm but the source pointed out that the office of the Chief Cooperatives Officer more than likely would be unable to afford to pay for such services and as a result the bills might be footed by the credit union or the GDF.
Jabar had told Stabroek News when he was initially contacted that it was the Committee of Management that approached his office requesting the audit and he said that he gave his no objection although he is still on leave.
Jabar also confirmed that another audit with a different scope is presently ongoing.
“But this [the new investigation] is a special situation outside of the ongoing audit,” the source said.
The source said that the audit that commenced earlier this year is basically to establish whether there is any wrong doing at the union and should the auditors “raise any red flags” then there would be a further investigation.
