As Guyana prepares for the oil and gas sector and the spin-offs associated with it, local chartered accountant Chateram Ramdihal has teamed up with a Trinidadian partner to bring forensic auditing services here.
Two Fridays ago Ramdihal, and Forensic Expert Stephon Grey, of the Caribbean Institute of Forensic Accounting (CIFA), launched the Caribbean Institute of Forensic Accounting (CIFA) Guyana Inc., which is located at the corner of Delph and Craig streets, Campbellville, George-town.
Ramdihal, whose Chartered Accountants Professional Services Firm (CAPSF) was established in October 2015, had earlier entered into a joint venture with Haynes Inc., an accounting firm from the United States of America owned by Floyd Haynes, to form Ramdihal and Haynes Inc. and provide consultancy services.
Ramdihal told Stabroek News that the brand CIFA is the platform for the Caribbean Institute of Forensic Accounting (CIFA) and CIFA Consult-ing. He noted that with the growing oil and gas sector and the number of international firms being established here, the forensic auditing area of expertise was one he was sure would be needed.
According to him, “CIFA is the only Carib-bean-based Institute dedicated to providing training in anti-fraud and forensic accounting throughout the region. Established in 2008, CIFA operates in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Gre-nada, St. Vincent, Barba-dos, Antigua, St. Kitts, Dominica, and Jamaica. We are currently the sole franchise holder for the Forensic CPA Society (USA) program for the Caribbean region since 2009”.
He further explained that CIFA’s established network of agents, facilitates access to corporate information and official documents in the Caribbean region, used for due diligence, asset tracing, competitive intelligence, or other legal and investigative requirements.
“Other areas of expertise include; Forensic Auditing, Process re-engineering, and Special Investigations. Our clientele includes International Investigative firms, Law Enforcement Agencies, State Enter-prises, Regulatory Bodies, and Asset Recovery Agencies. CIFA Consulting is the services subsidiary of CIFA that brings together a network of extensive experience in forensic auditing and asset tracing consultancy. CIFA operates throughout the English-speaking Caribbean, with our premier service being Corporate Intelligence and Special Investigations,” he said.
When asked what prompted him to enter into a joint venture with CIFA, he responded that he believes that forensic auditing/accounting is “badly needed” in Guyana. He said that currently there are no other forensic auditing firms in Guyana and that often financial auditors are used to carry out the job of forensic auditors, which he believes would have resulted in little or no success in prosecuting officials that would have committed fraudulent acts.
“People confuse financial and forensic auditing,” he said. “For example, and looking at the simple auditing of the purchase of say a pedestal fan which was quoted for let’s say $20,000. A financial audit would look at the record of samples of quotes of various invoices from stores and the price paid and those things. A forensic audit takes it in more detail and further where the entire matrix is assessed … and where it will look at the sale price of the same fan by other stores at the time of purchase and ….would determine say if it could have been bought for $10,000 at another store. It is not exactly like that but I give you that to see the level of detail…,” he added.
Ramdihal also said that he partnered with Grey, who is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) with fourteen years post qualification experience, a Certified Internal Control Auditor (CICA), and a Forensic Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Educator, because he has the experience and the licence in forensic auditing.
Additionally, he is the founder of the Caribbean Institute of Forensic Accounting (CIFA) and Director of its subsidiary CIFA Consulting Limited.
“Mr. Grey can be considered a Contract and Procurement audit expert, having completed sixty-four such exercises in the energy sector during the period 2008 – 2014 as an Independent Assessor to three major energy conglomerates operating in the Caribbean region. His work resulted in millions of dollars in contract fraud and abuse being identified, recovered, and saved. He is an Asset Tracing expert and has served as an Advisor in the implementation process of asset recovery agencies in the Caribbean and East Africa,” the company said of Grey’s experience.
But the forensic auditing aspect of the business is only one arm of what he hopes to build into a “one-stop place for business” where all necessary services would be provided “under one roof”.
“The joint venture is also part of his quest to make his dream come through, which is to have all professional services being offered under one roof and that in the near future, he will be adding a legal and engineering arm to the firm,” a statement from the company said.
