Responding to a report on the dismissal of the case it had brought against Atlantic Fuels Inc (AFI), the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) said that it had been unable to secure witnesses from overseas.
The GRA was responding to a report in the Kaieteur News dated March 23, 2023, captioned ‘Magistrate throws out GRA charge against Director of Atlantic Fuels Inc.’
The GRA said that the utterances attributable to counsel for the defence in the said matter that “The Court held that (GRA) failed to make out the charge against AFI even at the preliminary prima facie stage” was misleading.
In a statement on April 6, the GRA said that the Magistrate held that the Court was satisfied that the revenue authority tendered sufficient evidence to prove the first element of the offence, i.e., that “the defendant did in fact cause the declaration to be made”.
With reference to the second element however, that the declaration is false, the statement said that the Court held that for the offence to be proven, the GRA did not present sufficient evidence to support the false declaration.
In this regard, the GRA said that information obtained through a third party, “a regulatory body” revealed that an invoice declared by the former defendant for oil imports was false. Thereafter a detailed investigation was conducted, where it was found that in November 2020, the defendant imported a quantity of diesel fuel and submitted a Customs Declaration accompanied with an invoice purportedly issued by a foreign company with the price per litre of diesel fuel stated as US$0.33. Based on the price being much lower than Market prices, the said foreign company was contacted and thereafter provided a statement that, among others, it never sold or conducted any such transaction with the Defendant.
The GRA said that this led to the charges being laid against the defendant. Thereafter during the hearing(s) the statement said that the Revenue Authority made several efforts (through Diplomatic and other channels) to have the key witnesses from the said jurisdiction present themselves to the Court (through Zoom or in person) to testify (burden of proof) so as to prove the offence. Such efforts were futile, the GRA said.
Notwithstanding the court’s decision on the matter, the statement said that the Revenue Authority continues to work in collaboration with its sister Agencies, such as, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation and the Ministry of Home Affairs, to effectively address matters which require the testimony of key witnesses outside the jurisdiction.
“The Revenue Authority must reiterate its call for persons submitting import declarations to the Proper Officer of Customs to ensure their accuracy in keeping with the provisions of the Customs Act, Chapter 82:01 and Regulations made therein. Persons found in the act of making untrue or false declarations will be dealt with condignly in accordance with the applicable laws”, the GRA added.
