Chartered Accountant and attorney, Christopher Ram has questioned why the authorities did not try to snare the masterminds in the laundering of monies to China rather than focusing their attention on a family of three from Herstelling on the East Bank Demerara (EBD).
Amid long-running questions about why they have been unable to prosecute persons here for laundering the proceeds of crime, the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) last week instituted $4.1b worth of money laundering charges against the Ramnarine family. A release from SOCU made the startling disclosure that the transactions pertained to 22 Chinese companies. Questions were immediately raised as to what action was being pursued against these Chinese companies but there was no information in the SOCU statement about this. Sources say that pursuing the Chinese companies would fall in the remit of SOCU and the Guyana Revenue Authority.
The disclosure about the Chinese companies also came around the one-year anniversary of the stunning bribery allegations that had been made by Chinese businessman Su Zhirong which had been levelled against Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo. Su has since left the country and the authorities here have shown little interest in pursuing the matter.
Questions have been raised as to whether sensitivities about relations between Guyana and Beijing are preventing the government from taking action.
In a letter in today’s Sunday Stabroek, Ram pressed the issue, voicing surprise that the investigators’ focus seemed to be concentrated on the Herstelling family. Ram also suggested that it would now be nigh impossible to pursue the Chinese companies which may have commissioned the laundering.
He said that after three years of investigation into the multi-billion-dollar money laundering, tax evasion and racketeering ring, the specialised and elite SOCU could “only file charges of money laundering against a working class East Bank Demerara family of a mother, father and son. The charges cover some 268 transactions on behalf of Chinese `businesses’ in Guyana sending money to some 22 companies in China, reportedly using the official banking system”.
He added “This is no small matter. If as is likely, the money came from income hidden from the taxman, it represents about one-third of the total taxes which the GRA collected in 2022 from the self-employed in Guyana!”
Ram said that he shared the Stabroek News report on the case with a Guyanese colleague in the US who has been involved in the investigation of criminal networks in Florida, some of which succeeded and others which failed. Ram said that according to him, the charges brought before the court by SOCU have effectively burnt the three-year investigation, rendering “every further lead completely useless”.
Ram said that his colleague pointed out that the real criminals would already have left Guyana, taking safe refuge in China.
According to Ram, for three years, SOCU would have had on its radar the Guyanese family used as the front for the real criminals operating in Guyana.
“No doubt, with appropriate inducement and bargaining, those persons could provide precise information on the Chinese persons in Guyana on whose behalf they were acting. Additionally, SOCU as an arm of the Guyana Police Force has vast powers of investigation and arrest for cause in criminal matters. It could have gone to court for permission to intercept telecommunication between the family and the locally resident Chinese and the beneficiaries in China, and prevent persons from leaving the country, as it did with members of the Guyanese family.
“It could have used the several Business Directories in China to determine the bona fides of the recipients in China of the billions shipped out of Guyana, or have a SOCU member as part of our trade missions to China, or utilise our representatives in China, among various other creative opportunities.
“After the distant and forgotten Sugate episode, SOCU had the opportunity to nail the real criminals and put an end to the apparent immunity with which Chinese businesses appear to operate in Guyana, whether in natural resources, preferential access to prime land, tax evasion and the procurement of Government permits. We might even have found out those businesses which are extensions of the People’s Republic of China (the State) and those which are genuine, privately owned”, Ram asserted.
Like Guyana, Ram said that China subscribes to an internationally acceptable Anti-Money Laundering Regime. He said that Guyana’s Financial Intelligence Unit could have sought cooperation and information from its Chinese counterparts.
“It is disgraceful that a Guyanese family would conspire with Chinese businesspersons to rob our country and undermine the economy. But many fear too, that our own Government, if not in collusion with, is not sufficiently watchful of what is done in the name of Chinese businesses in Guyana.
“Cynics believe that we have been blinded by the lure of no questions asked loans from China to rob the country of its sovereignty and undermine the rule of law. That may turn out to be worse than the case itself”, Ram stated.
Charged last Wednesday were Kenneth Ramnarine, a taxi driver, his reputed wife, Yevette Saroop, and son Damian Ramnarine, a salesman, all of Lot 274 Somerset Court, Herstelling, EBD. SOCU laid a total of 268 charges of money laundering and conspiracy to launder over $4.1 billion against the family.
Kenneth and Damian Ramnarine were charged jointly, while Yvette Saroop, who was alleged to have conspired with them, was charged separately. Kenneth Ramnarine appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan where he was not required to plead to 41 indictable money laundering charges. His son was not present in the court at the time.
The joint Money Laundering charges against them were laid under Section 3 (1) (a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act Chapter 10:11. A summary of all the charges read that they knowingly or having reasonable grounds to believe that the cash in question, whether in whole or in part directly or indirectly represented proceeds of crime, converted or transferred the cash in question knowing or having reasons to believe that the said cash is the proceeds of crime with the aim of concealing or disguising the illicit origin.
Kenneth Ramnarine was remanded until March 06.
The 134 Money Laundering charges against Saroop were laid under 3 (1) (d) of the aforementioned act. She appeared on Wednesday at the Diamond/Grove Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Sunil Scarce, where she was not required to plead to the indictable charges. A summary of all the charges read that she conspired with Kenneth and Damian to convert or transfer the cash in question, knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the cash in whole or in part directly or indirectly represents proceeds of crime, with the aim of concealing or disguising the illicit origin.
Saroop was remanded to prison until March 6 and she is to reappear in court on March 17 for disclosure.
At the same court, Kenneth Ramnarine appeared before the same Magistrate to answer another 93 counts of money laundering charges for transporting large sums of monies through banks at Diamond, East Bank Area. The charges were laid under the same section, and he was not required to plead. He was remanded and was slated to answer more charges of a similar nature at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The son, Damien Ramnarine, was remanded to prison after facing 134 joint fraud charges committed during the years 2018 to 2021.
According to the Head of SOCU, Assistant Commissioner Fazil Karimbaksh, reports reaching his unit indicated that the trio conducted multiple suspicious transactions at several financial institutions in Guyana, raising concerns that they may be involved in money laundering activities. He disclosed that his suspicions were based primarily on the large number of unsubstantiated cash deposits made via Kenneth’s business accounts of Ken’s Trading Enterprise. Furthermore, the Sources of Funds declarations were submitted to several commercial banks which showed that most of the deposits were attributed to sales proceeds from biodegradable food boxes sold to local businesses, particularly Chinese restaurants.
Karimbaksh said that a substantial number of wire transfers, amounting to over $3.7 billion were sent to twenty-two companies in China under the pretext of importing raw materials to produce bio-degradable products, while other sums were disguised locally, overall, totalling over $4.1 billion.
He related that his investigators were unable to find any legitimate source of these funds, which the accused wire transferred out of Guyana. The accused’s actions, he noted, suggested that they may be operating as nominees for some Chinese businesses and also facilitating tax evasion through Ken’s Trading Enterprise.
His team of investigators comprised of several senior officers then contacted several prominent businesses in Georgetown during the course of the investigations that commenced in August 2020, whom the accused listed on their Sources of Funds declaration forms, and these businesses vehemently denied doing such large transactions with them.
This prompted SOCU to conduct several covert and overt investigations and operations, as well as monitor the suspects and their lifestyles until enough evidence was collected beyond a reasonable doubt to have them arrested and charged.
