The Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) in a statement last evening sought to clarify that a warrant issued for the arrest of petroleum dealer Dorwain Bess was withdrawn after the defendant presented himself to the Court as is normal in such cases.
“The recalling of warrants where defendants present themselves is a usual practice and ought not to be presented as an act of malice or impropriety on the part of the Complainant or the Court,” the statement maintained.
A report in Kaieteur News yesterday on the warrant’s recall suggested that it was improperly issued since Bess had not been properly served with the GEA complaint against his company, SBF International Inc.
The company is accused of the wholesaling of petroleum products without a licence. According to the GEA the matter was first called on April 30, 2021 at which time the complaint and summons relating to the matter had not been served as attempts to serve the company’s Directors at the registered office of the company proved futile.
“The address on East Street, the address of the registered office contained in the documents filed in Commercial Registry, and the address at which the GEA had previously successfully sent mails to the company while it was a licence holder, no longer appeared to house the company. As a result, attempts were made to serve each Director at his personal address (as stated in the documents filed in the Commercial Registry) along with all other addresses associated with the Directors based on various communication submitted by those Directors. All such attempts failed,” GEA detailed.
The GEA added that attempts were even made to enact service at the registered office of another company, Alpha Petroleum Trading Inc. at which Bess was stated to be a Director, however, this too proved futile.
On June 4, 2021, the GEA’s Prosecutor detailed these attempts to the Court and made an application for an arrest warrant which was granted by the Magistrate.
“The application was made and granted on the basis that there appeared to be attempts to avoid service, a statutory ground on which an arrest warrant can be issued. The warrant was lawfully issued by a Court of competent jurisdiction,” the agency stressed.
