Grenadian Queen’s Counsel Francis Alexis was enlisted by the Attorney General’s Chambers under the APNU+AFC administration for US$25,000 in relation to three high-profile cases.
A special audit by the Office of the Auditor General recently revealed that nearly $100M was spend by the Attorney General’s Chambers for the services of outside lawyers.
In the case of Alexis, the Auditor General’s special audit released yesterday said that on the 14th March, 2019, an agreement was made and entered into and by the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Chambers and Alexis for Legal Advice to, and Representation of, the Attorney General of Guyana regarding the three cases in in the Court of Appeal of Guyana on the No Confidence Motion processed in the National Assembly of Guyana on 21st December, 2018 (Contract No. 36/2019).
The report said that the Contract was awarded using the Direct Contracting/Single Source procurement method in the sum of US$25,000 by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) on the 13th March, 2019 via reference No. 597/2019/52.
An amount of $4.586M was paid to Alexis’ Law Firm via Payment Voucher No. 52A00224 with supporting Cheque No. 07-214476 dated 14th March, 2019, whilst the sum of $808,125 which represents 2% Withholding Tax was paid to Guyana Revenue Authority via Payment Voucher No. 52A00223 with supporting Cheque No. 07-214475 dated 14th March, 2019.
The payment to the Law Firm was made by way of a Wire Transfer through Republic Bank, using an exchange rate of $215.50 and $7,000 bank charges to process transaction, the report said.
In the report on the 2019 public accounts, Auditor General (AG) Deodat Sharma said that $99.650M in legal fees/retainer agreements were paid to three law firms and seven external attorneys in 2019 although the Ministry had a Solicitor General, one Deputy Solicitor General, two Assistant Solicitors General and six State Counsel in its employ.
