– sent on self-bail
Mohan ‘Glenn’ Lall and his wife Bhena were this morning released on self-bail shortly after they denied tax evasion charges which were read to them at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The remigrant couple Narootandeo and Gharbassi Brijnanan who have been jointly charged with them on two of the charges were not present. They are said to be abroad.
The Brijnanans became the focus of an investigation after it was reported that the Lalls were using two Lexus vehicles that they had imported into the country under the remigrant scheme. As a result of the duty-free concessions granted to them they were not required to pay the more than $100 million in duties on the luxury vehicles.
The charges were filed by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on September 25. The Lalls received the summonses to attend court last Wednesday.
The Lalls appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry on four charges: two counts of having ‘knowingly dealt with goods, with intent to defraud the revenue of duties’ and two counts of ‘knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of import duties of Customs’. The first set of offences reportedly occurred between June 18, 2013 and August 30, 2014 at Lot 110 Regent Street and at Lot 24 Saffon Street and involved two vehicles with licence plate numbers PRR 8399 and PRR 8398.
The second set of offences were reportedly committed jointly with the Brijnanans and others unknown between June 18, 2013 and September 21, 2013 at Lot 200-201 Camp Street where they reportedly knowingly concerned, aided and abetted each other in the fraudulent evasion of the import duties of customs due and payable to the Revenue Authority on the two vehicles.
Lall and his wife stood relaxed and composed in court this morning. In firm tones they both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
They were represented by Attorney Khemraj Ramjattan who informed the court that the Brijnanans were not in the country. He then made a successful application for his clients to be sent on their own recognisance to which the prosecutor had no objections.
Reports are that these charges stem from a broader investigation which could see more people being placed before the court. It was the sudden appearance of an unusual number of luxury vehicles which prompted the government to order that an investigation be done. The Auditor General’s office is looking into duty-free concessions granted to remigrants from 2010 to 2014. 2013 is the year currently being looked at.
