Dear Editor,
Your Saturday October 13, 2018 edition reported on an extant court matter involving the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI).
From this report I glean that SOCU, as part of a money laundering/fraud investigation had requested from GBTI copies of transaction records of a certain account held at the bank. GBTI refused. SOCU took the matter to court and Justice Franklin Holder ruled that GBTI furnish the requested records to SOCU. On its appeal of this ruling in the Full Court of the High Court, GBTI lost. Its grounds of appeal were deemed “misconceived and without merit.” The Full Court upheld Justice Franklin’s ruling and GBTI was given the deadline of November 12, 2018 by 4:30PM to comply. The defendant’s request for a stay, pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal was denied and so GBTI has to comply with orders of the Full Court.
Editor, I am not sure, but this request by SOCU for pertinent bank records from GBTI must be over a year now and they have not complied. In fact they fought against and resisted all measures to make them comply. In the process the court’s time was abused and wasted. This situation raises a number of concerns and questions.
A question I would like to ask is did SOCU consult with the Bank of Guyana on this matter? The BOG is an autonomous body that operates within a legislative framework of Acts, each Act having specific provisions. Acts like the Financial Institutions Act, 1995 and the
Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, 2009, empowers the BOG to oversee the operations of commercial banks and ensure their compliance with good corporate governance principles. In fact, part of their mission statement is to “secure the credibility of the financial system.”
Given the foregoing, it is logical to conclude that BOG must be an interested party in the referenced court case. It is my humble view therefore, that SOCU should have consulted with and even seek the advice and intervention of BOG. If they did, what was BOG’s response? If they did not, then maybe it is not too late to still do so.
Editor, in closing, I wish to note that we live in an age of rampant financial crimes like money laundering, cyber theft, financing of terrorism etc. In this milieu the credibility of our financial institutions will be tested and challenged. As the gatekeeper, BOG must be seen as strong, proactive, fair and vigilant in carrying out its mandate. Much is at stake and the world is watching us.
Yours faithfully,
Rustum Bulkan
