The trial of former minister in the PPP/C administration Dr Jennifer Westford and her former aide Margaret Cummings, for the alleged theft of over $600 million from the government, will commence after statements are handed over next week.
Police prosecutor Vishnu Hunte yesterday asked the court for more time to get the statements in order so that he could deliver the file to the defence team.
The prosecution had previously asked for two weeks for the statements to be made into one consolidated file to prevent further confusion.
The mix-up of the files was realised during the commencement of the trial earlier this month, when one of Westford’s attorneys, Neil Boston, noticed a discrepancy.
To resolve the issue, Boston pleaded with the court to give the prosecution time to have the files sorted out.
Two weeks were subsequently granted to the prosecution for the files to be fixed.
Magistrate Judy Latchman yesterday set August 5 as the final date for statements to be handed over to the attorneys of the former minister and her former aide. On this date, a commencement date for trial is expected to be fixed.
The charge against Westford and Cummings is that between the period October 19, 2011 and April 28, 2015, while being employed with the former Public Service Ministry, they stole $639,420,000 belonging to the Government of Guyana, which they received by virtue of employment.
It is also alleged that between 2011 and 2015, Westford signed 24 memorandums amounting to $639,420,000 and sent them to the Permanent Secretary at the Office of the President to be signed and approved. The money was said to have been requested for activities to be conducted in the 10 administrative regions.
