Anyone found culpable of any “illegality” at the conclusion of the ongoing audit into the disappearance of $300 million from the Guyana Police Force’s Finance Department will face the full force of the law.
The police, in a press statement yesterday, gave this assurance while stating that the investigation is still ongoing.
A numbers of officers were placed on administrative leave to facilitate the probe, the police said.
“In conclusion, the audit is ongoing and those found to have committed any illegality will face the full force of the law,” the statement noted.
In delivering his contribution during the 2021 budget debate late last month, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn had announced that the money was missing from the force’s Finance Department.
Benn had said that a financial audit of the Finance Department is ongoing to determine what happened to the funds.
He added that there appears to be a “revolving” door between the finances of the police and the force’s Welfare Fund.
“Mr Speaker, an investigation is underway as it relates to the police Finance Department. There seems to be a revolving door between police finances and the police welfare fund for the last year or part of the last year. An amount of $300 million dollars [is] missing,” Benn noted.
Stabroek News was previously told that the discovery was made last year after the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) assumed office.
Since then, a number of ranks, including a few from the Finance Department, have been sent on administrative leave pending the outcome of the probe.
Information reaching this newspaper revealed that there were instances where money was signed off for ranks for overtime work but they never received it.
There were also occasions where millions were allocated for purchases by the force but cannot be accounted for.
