Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan on Monday expressed an interest in having fraud expert Dr. Sam Sittlington, who was recently sacked by the United Kingdom, hired by the Guyana Government to continue the work he began in 2016 at the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
The UK last Thursday terminated the contract that Sittlington had with the unit, one day after this newspaper reported that he had registered a local branch of his company even while advising SOCU on training and a range of other matters.
“There is nothing we can do, except now, probably seek to contract him as the Government of Guyana because I was very impressed with his capacities there and guiding that unit and training them to know how to identify these money laundering issues and white collar crimes and a whole lot of other things,” Ramjattan told Stabroek News.
Further, he said Sittlington is an “exceptionally bright person in relation to that [money laundering and white collar crimes] and I at a personal level would have wanted him to continue but of course that will depend on the president and people above me. I would like to have him there, even for a further couple of months.”
According to documents seen by this newspaper, the Fraud Company (Guyana) Inc was incorporated under the Companies Act of Guyana on September 25th, 2018. Sittlington, a native of Northern Ireland, is listed as the Director while the Secretary is Orisa Branche. Sittlington and Branche – whose occupation is listed as Manager – on August 26, 2018, signed consent forms to act in the respective positions.
Sittlington, a former police investigator, arrived in Guyana in early 2016 and had been working continuously with SOCU since then to strengthen the unit’s operational capacity, with a view to increasing the effectiveness of the country’s ability to tackle money laundering, terrorist financing and other serious crimes.
There was no prior indication that he was arriving here. The media became aware of his presence at the opening of the Guyana office of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on February 10th, 2016.
A brief statement from UK High Commissioner Greg Quinn last week stated that “in light of information about Dr. Sam Sittlington’s private business interests his contract in Guyana has been terminated with immediate effect.” The contract, this newspaper was told, was slated to come to an end sometime next year.
Observers have since questioned whether the UK plans to retain a replacement advisor.
Stabroek News on Monday reached out to Quinn, who is currently on holiday, and was told that this is being looked at. “We are currently examining the nature of ongoing support to SOCU in the light of the termination of Dr Sittlington’s contract. We will provide an update when more information is available,” he said.
Ramjattan said he would prefer Sittlington over a replacement and added that he will be engaging Quinn on the matter when he returns to his desk next week.
“I will have to get some advice as to how we move forward or if we can ask the British for an additional replacement,” he added, while noting that he would like Sittlington to continue his work given his familiarity with SOCU.
He said that he wants to engage Quinn “to see how best we can remedy the situation created by this termination.”
Ramjattan told this newspaper that following the termination, he spoke with Sittlington, who claimed that he didn’t realise that he was violating his contract by setting up the company. Based on what Ramjattan said, Sittlington wants to remain in Guyana on a long-term basis. According to the minister, when the news broke of Sittlington setting up the private company, he “wasn’t shocked” since there have been cases where foreigners continue working here after their contracts come to an end.
While stressing that he doesn’t know the terms of Sittlington’s contract, he opined that “it certainly seems that it might have been a situation whereby a couple of things might have been a breach of the convention.”
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 had faced criticism from the opposition, with former Attorney General Anil Nandlall arguing in March 2017 that he exceeded his mandate and entered into both operational matters and the political realm when he joined SOCU on raids, interrogations and spoke on its behalf to media.
“Based upon information I have received from clients who have been the subject of SOCU’s investigations and from what I personally observed on Tuesday, 7th of March 2017, it is difficult not to conclude that Dr. Sittlington may have exceeded his official remit and trespassed into operational matters at SOCU. Moreover, it is awfully difficult to reconcile the admitted remit of Dr. Sittlington at SOCU, that is, as an advisor and a trainer, with ‘him explaining [to the press] the legal basis and rights on which SOCU took the actions they did.’ In my humble view, this latter function seems better suited for the Public Relations Department of the Guyana Police Force, of which SOCU is a part. The content of what he disclosed to the press, swayed him in yet another direction: the political realm. These unfortunate utterances only exacerbated an already ignoble situation,” Nandlall said at the time.
He was addressing the arrest of seven persons, including former president Bharrat Jagdeo and former Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon, as part of its criminal investigation of the sale of lands in the controversial ‘Pradoville 2’ housing scheme.
