Former Guyana Defence Force Lieutenant Colonel Sydney James has been appointed Assistant Commissioner of Police and Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit of the Guyana Police Force, a senior government official confirmed yesterday.
“Yes he has been confirmed in both capacities, as SOCU is expected to be up and running very soon,” the official told Stabroek News.
This newspaper understands that James was sworn in on Friday by President Donald Ramotar.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who was out of the country at the time, informed that the announcement on SOCU’s new head would be made soon by Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon.
James, who recently gave evidence in the Commission of Inquiry into the 1980 killing of Dr Walter Rodney, had served the army for 34 years.
Luncheon, last year, had announced the government’s intention to create a Special Organized Crime Unit, which will deal primarily with investigating suspected cases of money laundering and financing of terrorism.
He had stated that the unit would work alongside the FIU to compile information. The unit was then to act as an intermediary between the FIU and the Director of Public Prosecutions. Further, he had revealed that the SOCU would comprise skilled investigators trained by an external investigator. Nandlall said that SOCU’s investigators would come from law enforcement as well as strong financial working backgrounds.
Two weeks ago Luncheon informed that Cabinet had given its no objection for the $63.1M contract award for the construction of the agency headquarters.
