-granted $600,000 bail each
The three persons who earlier this week allegedly attempted to smuggle over 240 ounces of gold to the United States pleaded not guilty to the joint charge when they appeared before the court yesterday, and have each been placed on $600,000 bail.
Ian Jacobis, 44, of Lot 749 Plantation Best, West Coast Demerara; Shameena Ahamad, 52, of Lot 38 Roraima Scheme, West Bank Demerara; and Ashiana Salamalay, 34, of Lot 38 Roraima Scheme, West Bank Demerara, were all charged with the offence of exporting gold without a licence in contravention of Section 8 of the Guyana Gold Board Act, Chapter 66:01, contrary to section 23 (a) of the said Guyana Gold Board Act, Chapter 66:01, police yesterday said.
The defendants appeared at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman, where the charge was read to them, and they all pleaded not guilty.
Bail was granted in the sum of $600,000 each, with the condition that Jacobis lodge his passport at the Diamond Magis-trate’s Court and report to the Clerk every first Friday of the month. Ahamad and Salamaly are to report to the clerk every Friday pending the outcome of the matter.
The two women are naturalised American citizens and had attempted to travel with their US passports while Jacobis holds a Guyana passport.
They are scheduled to return to court on June 18.
On Monday, officers of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) reportedly seized a large quantity of gold jewellery from three passengers, who were attempting to leave on an American Airlines flight bound for New York, USA.
According to a release, the operation, which was fully supported by officers of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MoNR), and the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), led to the discovery of approximately 240 ounces of virtually pure gold disguised as silver-plated jewellery, intended to be shipped out of the country without the necessary permits and declaration to customs officials. The gold was valued at over US$560,000.
GRA said that the outgoing passengers were arrested and taken into custody and handed over to the Guyana Police Force as investigations continue, with a view to determining whether they are part of any ring reportedly smuggling gold out of Guyana without the necessary declarations and permits.
The release also stated that charges were likely to be made under the Customs and Anti-Money Laundering Acts, with the relevant authorities both here and overseas being informed of the results of the investigations.
‘Unmask the masterminds’
Yesterday’s charges prompted the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) to call for a wider probe to unearth the mastermind(s), as the association does not believe the trio acted on their own.
“The Association looks forward to a full and thorough investigation that will bring not only those currently under arrest to justice, but one that will unmask the masterminds behind what seems to be a well-planned scheme. The association will be closely monitoring this case and expects that the government agencies will ensure that there is full public disclosure and accountability. The GGDMA calls for a full disclosure of all those involved and stands fully behind the government in exposing (the) criminals (involved),” the association said in a statement.
It also called on all miners to “sell their gold to the Guyana Gold Board or to Licensed Gold Dealers.”
“Miners are also reminded that they should ensure that proper documentation and a periodic statement of their transactions is received from the Licensed Gold Dealer. This statement should be with the gold dealer’s records presented to GGB. This verification is important since it will ensure that your gold is properly accounted for and that your taxes are being correctly paid to the Government,” the GGDMA added.
Sources have also told the Stabroek News that further investigations into gold smuggling are ongoing as authorities also do not believe that Monday’s case was an isolated case.
One source said that the suspects were stopped
following a tipoff and that records show that they had been frequent travellers. “It shows also the magnitude of their operations because the jewellers… we have reason to believe there is more than one, are in too and work for the gold dealer…,” one source said.
A source close to the process also expressed concern over the integrity of the investigations saying that “it is one thing to charge persons, but ultimately what happens in the end is what is most important. These cases a lot of times fall through because somewhere along the investigations someone drops the ball. Does justice really prevail?” the source questioned.
Contacted for comment, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, said that his ministry was “part of the operation but GRA and the police are dealing with the matter.”
He added that MoNR is supporting those bodies as they carry out the probe.
Monday’s silver-plated caper at the airport would represent another in a long line of schemes to smuggle gold – currently at stratospheric prices internationally – out of the country. The audacity of the plan would suggest that it had been tried before with success.
Over the last two decades, successive governments here have been warned about large-scale gold smuggling out of the country but there have only been a few successes, Monday’s being one.
There have been overt displays of the illicit hoarding of gold by dealers and in a notorious event, the theft of a huge shipment of gold in Curacao which was believed to be en route to the US after being loaded in Guyana.
There have also been questions about Venezuelan gold being commingled with Guyana’s gold.
Yesterday, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said that he can now confirm that in an effort to evade taxes, miners are not selling gold to the Gold Board and as such, put them on warning that the law will come after them.
“We believe now that we have enough evidence about some of the people who are involved and you are going to see additional activities against them and so, I am saying this to them again, if you are doing this, desist from doing this because the full force of the law will be instituted against you, and I would even advocate that we amend the law to institute [an] even more severe penalty to people who have done this,” Jagdeo said.
He added, “…We are still very concerned about what is happening in the market and we believe there are people not selling to the gold board to avoid the taxes and we believe that it was organised and it was having an impact, because many of the legitimate dealers were saying to us that people were offering rates beyond what the market can sustain, even beyond the international prices.”
In January this year, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, noted that gold smuggling was one of the highest money laundering threats in Guyana, which was flagged by the second Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing National Risk Assessment in 2022.
The National Risk Assessment (NRA) noted that in 2016 it was reported that 15,000 ounces of gold was smuggled out of Guyana weekly, while in 2017, a major gold smuggling racket was unearthed through the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which provided Guyana’s authorities with a list of persons who had taken gold to the JFK Airport, New York, and declared it there.
