The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has advised the police to launch a “comprehensive” investigation into alleged criminal conduct by Chief Election Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield and District Four Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo during the March 2nd elections and its aftermath based on formal complaints.
Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Royston Andries-Junor said the Guyana Police Force yesterday received “formal” reports which alleged criminal conduct by Lowenfield, Mingo and others.
As a result, Andries-Junor said, the DPP advised police to launch a “comprehensive” investigation into the allegations.
“The DPP has further indicated that in the exercise of powers vested in her under Article 187 of the Constitution, she will take over the private criminal charges currently pending in the Magistrate’s Court in relation to the March 2nd, 2020, General and Regional Elections and its aftermath,” he stated.
Lowenfield is currently facing fraud and misconduct charges, which were filed by private citizens over his handling of the results from the March 2nd polls.
The matters were due for a report before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty last Friday in Georgetown, where prosecutors Sanjeev Datadin and Glenn Hanoman explained that the DPP wrote them asking to review the available evidence in order to decide on the charges.
Datadin explained that Lowenfield’s attorney, Nigel Hughes, wrote to the DPP and asked her to review the charges.
“So the DPP has written to us… to ask for the files so that she could consider what is going to be the position of the DPP and we have complied with that,” Datadin told the media after last week Friday’s hearing was adjourned.
He further noted that the prosecution is willing to comply with whatever decision is made by the DPP.
Despite Hughes asking that Lowenfield be placed on self-bail when he was arraigned, he is currently on $150,000 bail for each charge against him.
It is alleged that between March 5th and June 23rd, 2020, Lowenfield conspired with a person or persons unknown to commit the common law offence of fraud by representing to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) that tables attached to his June 23rd elections report accurately reflected the true results of the elections in order to materially alter the results, with intent to defraud as he knew the tabulation to be false.
The New Movement candidate Daniel Kanhai is listed as the complainant for this charge.
A second charge states that while performing his duty as CEO, Lowenfield willfully misconducted himself by ascertaining results of the elections “knowing the said results to be false,” without lawful excuse or justification.
That charge was brought by People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) candidate Desmond Morian.
A third charge, also brought by Morian, alleges that Lowenfield conspired with a person or persons unknown to commit fraud by representing to GECOM that the tables in his March 14th Elections Report reflected the true results of the elections, knowing that the tabulation was false, in order to materially alter the results of the elections.
Since the matters were first heard last month, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has been declared as the winner of the March 2nd Election and President Mohamed Irfaan Ali has been sworn in as the country’s ninth president.
