The acting Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Althea Padmore says a certificate from Ashworth College, the validity of which has been questioned, had not been part of her application for a position at the agency and she says she is endeavouring to have allegations about the certificate answered and will make public her findings.
In recent days, various questions have been raised about the Masters of Science in Business Administration from the online education college. Contacted for a comment on Friday, Padmore told Stabroek News that her attorney would be engaging the public on the matter. On Friday night, her attorney Nigel Hughes issued Padmore’s response to the allegations that she had submitted a forged certificate as the holder of a master’s degree with Honours in Business Administration in order to secure her position as a Financial Investigator at SOCU.
Padmore said that she joined SOCU on the 29th March 2015 as a civilian financial investigator.
“At the time of my joining SOCU I was the holder of a BSC in Accountancy from the University of Guyana, a Diploma in Accountancy from the University of Guyana and a Certificate in USA Federal Taxation from Indiana University School of Continuing Studies. I also had previously worked for an (accumulated) period of 12 years in the areas of auditing, taxation and bank supervision”, she stated.
Padmore said that the requirements for the post to which she was appointed at SOCU included full vetting, background checks and successful passing of a polygraph test.
She said that prior to joining SOCU she had commenced two online programmes: a MBA and a Diploma in Event planning. Both programes were offered by Ashworth College. Padmore added that these programmes were not part of her application to SOCU neither were they taken into account prior to the retention of her services by SOCU.
She said that her pursuit of the MBA had been interrupted by family responsibilities.
“After submission of my payments to Ashworth and the completion of the matriculation requirements I was issued a certificate by the institution. I have never had reason to doubt the authenticity of the documentation issued to me and made no effort to verify the status of the signatories of the certificate or the institution other than my initial inquiries prior to the commencement of the MBA program”, Padmore said.
She also referred to resistance that she had faced at SOCU.
“I was appointed head of SOCU after the departure of Mr. Sydney James. I instituted various internal management and operational changes with the sole purpose of improving the integrity of the investigations and operations. These changes did not find favor with some members of SOCU who attempted to stymie the changes which were introduced”, Padmore asserted.
She stressed that the certification which she received from Ashworth was never part of any consideration undertaken by SOCU in the review of my application for employment by them, through the Ministry of Home Affairs.
“I was unaware of any issue in relation to either Ashworth College or the authenticity of the certificate I received. I (have) since engaged Ashworth College about the allegations which have been made and I await the responses. I have been informed that Ashworth College has been taken over by Penn Foster. I will share any future communications from Penn Foster with the press upon my receipt of their communications”, she said.Padmore was appointed acting Head of SOCU in July, 2019. Her appointment came following the cloud of controversy surrounding the previous Head, Sydney James after an investigation of SOCU by the police found a series of irregularities at the agency.
In February, 2019, Commissioner of Police Leslie James had initiated an audit of SOCU following claims of grave mismanagement, including the misuse of its operational fund.
As such, in early July 2019, Sydney James was sent on administrative leave. Days after, it was announced that Padmore would be acting as the Head of the unit.
Senior Superintendent, Fazil Karimbaksh is expected to be the new head of SOCU. Karimbaksh previously served as the Commander of ‘E’ Division and subsequently the Deputy Head of the Force Training Centre.
