The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has issued a wanted bulletin for businessman Dorwain Bess, who has been linked to an alleged plot to extort another city businessman.
According to the police, the 45-year-old Bess’ last known address is Lot 162 Rupa Place, Bel Air Park. Georgetown.
Two reporters, Gary Eleazer and Alex Wayne, were arrested over an alleged attempt to extort the businessman.
On Sunday, the police said investigators conducted an interview with Eleazar where he was told of the allegation of trying to extort $1 million from a businessman in order to remove a news article from the Facebook page and website of the Guyana News Network (GNN).
Police claim Eleazer alleged that he was contacted by Bess, who told him that a businessman was evading taxes on imported vehicles and as a result he wrote an article and sent it to Bess. The police added that Eleazer stated that Bess then sent the article to overseas-based Guyanese Rickford Burke and several paragraphs were added and the article was subsequently posted on the GNN Facebook page and website.
Police added that Eleazer also alleged that Bess told him that the article in question was to threaten the businessman due to the fact that he had lost $100 million while he and the businessman were in business together.
Meanwhile, Burke, of the New York based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), yesterday denied the claims made about him. “The falsehoods and wild conjectures in the Police statement are fantastic and intended to slander. I live in New York. The people being coerced by the Police to speculate about me, live in Guyana. They have never been in my presence. I have never seen them in my life. None of them has ever spoken to me about an article about a businessman evading taxes. One I have never heard of before!” he said in a statement.
Burke claimed that he was being targeted by the police at the behest of government for exposing corruption.
Anyone with information surrounding Bess’ whereabouts is asked to contact the police on 225-6940, 225-8196, 226-7476, 225-2317, 227-1149 or the nearest police station.
