An Interim Management Committee (IMC) was installed last month to manage the affairs of the Amalgamated Transport & General Workers Cooperative Credit Union, following a discovery of fraud.
This disclosure was made by Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton to Stabroek News yesterday.
Hamilton said that a seven-member committee headed by Myrtle Richards, was installed on December 7, 2020.
The other members of the management team are: Yolanda Lamott, Annaser Hamilton, Dana Nestor, Jonny Mortley, Prandatt Basdeo, and Ann-Abigail Arthur.
The newly installed IMC is tasked with bringing the books and affairs of the credit union up to date and to prepare for the possible holding of an Annual General Meeting. Last November, Hamilton announced that his ministry had unearthed fraud with just over $13 million unaccounted for at the union. Hamilton told reporters that an ongoing audit has revealed that $8.4 million is not accounted for and over $4.9 million in cash, which is kept at the union’s Urquhart Street, Georgetown office is missing.
“Presently there is an audit of the books of the union and monies that they cannot account for to the tune of $8.4 million… secondly during the audit and during queries they had in their possession $4.9 million cash money they cannot account for…,” Hamilton highlighted during a press conference.
Additionally, he stated that the ministry has also discovered an alarming situation where a senior officer attempted to cash two cheques to the tune of $3.6 million.
The Financial Intelligence Unit was also called in to conduct a probe into the missing money.
The Amalgamated Transport & General Workers Cooperative Credit Union represents workers from the National Insurance Scheme, Guyana National Printers, Guyana National Newspapers Limited, Ministry of Housing and Water, Bank of Guyana, Go-Invest, Guyoil, and the National Parks Commission, among other agencies.
