While it has not commenced as yet, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn yesterday confirmed that the allegations of corruption and money laundering involving Chinese nationals operating here made in two VICE News reports will be investigated.
“If they called for an investigation, an investigation would have to be done”, Benn told Stabroek News in an invited comment yesterday.
Asked which agency will be tasked with the investigation, Benn said a discussion will have to be held before that decision is made. “We would have to discuss it to see which one is the most appropriate,” he said.
Stabroek News on Friday contacted Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Fazil Karimbaksh to find out whether there would be a probe into the allegations made in the report.
However, Karimbaksh had said he was unaware of the report this newspaper was referring to and as such he wouldn’t be able to comment.
The allegations of corruption and money laundering by Chinese nationals operating in Guyana came to the fore in two video reports from VICE News – a US-based investigative news agency.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo was implicated as the main government contact for the Chinese nationals to secure access to lucrative contracts as well as safeguard their investments here. He has vehemently denied the allegations.
