Two months after solo charges of larceny and conspiracy to commit a multi-million dollar larceny were levelled against former Guyana Power and Light (GPL) director Carvil Duncan, he appeared before a city court yesterday, where the charges were amended.
The initial charges against Duncan, which were read to him in January, alleged that on March 31, 2015, at Georgetown, he stole $984,900, which was the property of GPL Inc. It was further alleged that he conspired with Aeshwar Deonarine to steal $984,900 from the company on the same day, and to steal the sum of $27,757,547 between May 7 and May 8, 2015.
He had not been required to plead to the charges then, but did so when he appeared again before the court in April, where he entered not guilty pleas.
On April 30, the joint charges against Duncan and Deonarine were withdrawn and Duncan was charged alone, as his co-accused, a resident of Canada, was, and continues to be on the run.
At yesterday’s hearing, the charges were amended to have the name “Aeshwar Deonarine” deleted, and replaced with “another.” The new charges, therefore, state that Duncan and another, on March 31, 2015, at Georgetown, conspired to commit a felony, being simple larceny. That is to say, they conspired with each other to steal $984,900, property of GPL.
It was also alleged that Duncan and another conspired to steal $27,757,547 between May 7 and May 8, 2015, property of GPL.
He pleaded not guilty to both charges read. No changes were made to the third charge against Duncan, which states that he stole $984,900 from the company on March 31.
Prosecutor Neville Jeffers indicated that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), with the assistance of Interpol, was making attempts to locate Deonarine. The matter has been adjourned to July 5, when a date will be fixed for the commencement of trial.
The charges against the accused stem from payments that were made by Deonarine and Duncan to themselves and which were uncovered by a forensic audit that was commissioned after the APNU+AFC government entered office last year. The money allegedly stolen by Duncan represents retroactive payments for his time on the GPL Board.
Duncan had told Stabroek News that he was paid fees owed to him for some six years since the company had not paid its board members, during which time they were forced to use their own money for transportation and other expenses.
In relation to Deonarine, the money allegedly stolen represents a retroactive salary hike for the period January 2013 to June 2015, that he transferred to himself and which Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson said had not been approved by the board.
He allegedly transferred the sum with the help of Duncan, who was one of the signatories to the company’s bank account. Duncan had told this newspaper that he believed the board had approved the retroactive payment to Deonarine.
