The Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) is making progress with its investigation into the allocation of lands at ‘Pradoville 2’ to cabinet members of the former administration and their close associates, financial investigations expert Dr Sam Sittlington said on Wednesday.
He said investigators were continuing to build a case before proceeding to question those implicated. “It is an ongoing process, but before you can interview anyone, you want to have your cards ready to deal,” he said, when asked whether the former cabinet members had been questioned.
Responding to questions from the media shortly after the opening ceremony of a one-day seminar on corruption and anti-money laundering, he said he was advising the unit on this matter.
Given the high-profile nature of this matter, observers have said that the former cabinet members should have been questioned simultaneously with the gathering of documents and other pieces of evidence.
The `Pradoville 2’ matter is one of six based on forensic audits that are currently being looked at by SOCU.
A special investigation of the Sparendaam Housing Project referred to as `Pradoville 2’, which was part of a larger probe of the financial operations of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), was conducted by accounting firm Ram & McRae.
The investigation revealed that the allocation of the land was a clandestine arrangement that was handled personally by former housing minister Irfaan Ali and it was concluded that a criminal case for misfeasance can be made against the PPP/C Cabinet members who benefited.
Lots were allocated to six Cabinet members—former president Bharrat Jagdeo, cabinet secretary Dr Roger Luncheon and ministers Priya Manickchand, Dr Jennifer Westford, Robert Persaud and Clement Rohee—along with other persons with connections to the then government.
The forensic audit, found that awardees grossly underpaid for the lots by a total of nearly $250 million, while the state-owned National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited, National Communications Network and Guyana Power and Light Inc were never reimbursed for millions spent to execute preparatory works.
“Our examination leads to the conclusion that the project was done outside of the established procedures and that Minister Ally [sic] piloted every aspect of the transaction without recourse to the Authority.
While the minister has considerable powers under the Housing Act, his role in the issue of titles was well outside of his functions and powers,” the final report, which seen by Stabroek News, said.
The report added that the awardees made payments to the CHPA but these were significantly lower than the market value. “No files were maintained by CHPA for any of the plots allocated by a process that can be described as lacking transparency at best,” it further said.
It was stated that of the 28 lots, totalling 12.1187 acres, only 3.9693 acres remain unallocated.
Government has already identified a team of special prosecutors to handle the cases whenever they are taken to court. The team is also giving advice to SOCU in the interim.
Meanwhile, Sittlington made it known that the unit has managed to gather evidence in other high-profile cases.
“I honestly don’t want to comment right now. There are things ongoing at the moment which hopefully will come to a head within the next couple of days,” he said, adding that he thinks the public will be happy to see the successes of SOCU.
A few days ago, SOCU officials and heavily-armed police ranks swooped on the Guyana Rice Development Board as part of a wider probe into financial irregularities.
Asked about this particular investigation, Sittlington said given that a forensic audit has been completed, SOCU was looking to gather evidential documents. “You can’t use the audit as your case in court, so… because the audit was produced with the documentation from the Board we had to gather that same documentation as evidence under a legal process. Yes there is evidence there. I wouldn’t underestimate the size of this case. This is a massive case,” he said.
Asked how confident he was that SOCU has the capacity to effectively handle these high-profile matters, he said, “They do have the skill. They don’t have the manpower and the problem is that there is only a small number of skilled officers and the new officers that have come in over the last few weeks will have to be trained as well. So it is a matter of prioritizing, gathering in what they need.”
He said one of the pluses was that the special prosecutors were assisting with cases and were in a position to give better direction in terms of what they would need for the court.
He said too that the unit now has its own forensic accountant. “Things are greatly improved. I think with… direction, with proper evidence we’ll see more success in court,” he said.
