United Kingdom advisor to the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Dr Sam Sittlington, has registered a local branch of his company to deal with fraud, money laundering and related matters.
According to documents seen by Stabroek News, The Fraud Company (Guyana) Inc was incorporated under the Companies Act of Guyana on September 25, 2018. Sittlington, a native of Northern Ireland is listed as the Director while the Secretary is Orisa Branche. The local firm is authorised to issue one million shares at $1 each. Sittlington and Branche – whose occupation is listed as Manager – on August 26, 2018, signed consent forms to act in the respective positions.
Sittlington’s company, The Fraud Company Ltd, was established in the UK several years ago. He was hired by the British government for a Guyana assignment in 2016 and is now in an advisory and training capacity at SOCU His latest contract, according to his LinkedIn profile, began on January 2018 and runs until March 2020.
Sittlington could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Law enforcement officials last evening said they had heard that he has set up a company here but they were unaware that it was already registered. One official said that without a doubt, there will be a conflict of interest. According to one source, this situation is “highly unethical” as Sittlington was hired to advise and train officials on matters related to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. They say that Sittlington can use the information he gathers through SOCU to advance his private business.
Sittlington’s company, according to his LinkedIn profile, “facilitates my role as an advisor, developing strategy, best practice and delivering bespoke training programs such as: Fraud Investigation, Fraud Risk Management, Bribery & Corruption, Anti-money laundering, Financial Investigation, Asset Management and Terrorist Financing to a global audience.”
According to the company’s website, The Fraud Company Ltd offers unique services in the financial crime environment. “Our company has the expertise and knowledge through our associations to cover all aspects of training, investigation, risk management, asset recovery, compliance and governance in the areas of fraud, anti-money laundering, counter terrorist financing, bribery and corruption and environmental risk. We have a proven track record in all these areas and due to that success and demand for additional services we have begun to expand into other related fields,” it says.
Sittlington, a former police investigator and fraud expert arrived in Guyana in early 2016 and has been working continuously with SOCU since then to strengthen the unit’s operational and investigative ability, with a view to increasing the effectiveness of Guyana and its ability to tackle money laundering, terrorist financing and other serious crimes. This newspaper was told that initially he worked closely with investigators on high profile matters and went on raids. Sources said as of now, he only acts in an advisory capacity, providing clarity and offering direction to investigators. Sources said too that he also focuses heavily on training for law enforcement officials.
Sittlington also played an integral role in training sessions aimed at assisting prosecutors and investigators in preparing files for anti-money laundering and assets recovery cases.
Meanwhile, law enforcement officials have confirmed that Sherronie James, a financial analyst at SOCU, has resigned. While there are conflicting reports surrounding the resignation, persons close to the unit say that her departure is a big blow. They say that this will impact court cases brought by SOCU, since the financial investigator would have worked on many high profile matters and is slated to testify in them.
It is unclear if the British national plans to return home or will remain in Guyana at least until the court matters have been completed.
Questions have been raised about James’ appointment and her qualifications.
These came up during an immigration hearing for former Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) employee Peter Ramcharran, who is currently in Canada. Ramcharran, last June, was charged in his absence along with several others, with failing to record entries for funds amounting to over $250 million in total in the agency’s general ledger, from 2011 to 2015.
Ramcharran is currently fighting deportation.
His attorney, Kaisree Chatarpaul had told Stabroek News last month that he had cross-examined James via Skype during a hearing before the immigration tribunal over several days.
He claimed that James, who was responsible for 70 investigations involving the GRDB, admitted that she was a Senior Superintendent but she could not say who appointed her. Chatarpaul claimed that James even admitted that she was never interviewed nor was she appointed by the Police Service Commission. “I argued [that] would make her illegal,” he had said adding that the SOCU official took offence with the fact that he was able to gain possession of certain documents.
