5 charged for $19.4M fraud involving forged GRA cheques

Five persons – four men and a woman – have been charged for forging $19.4 million worth in cheques in the name of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and cashing same at the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI).
They are Romeshchand Singh, 40, of Grove Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara (EBD); Komalram Persaud, 25, of Grove, EBD; Devindra Moteeram, 24, of East La Penitence, Georgetown; Anush Khan, 29, of Diamond, EBD; and Shareesa Tappin, 26, of Clifford Avenue, West Ruimveldt, Georgetown.
The accused made their appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday where the charges were read to them by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly.
The first charge stated that between October 28, 2020 and May 11, 2021, Singh conspired with Tappin, Persaud, Moteeram and Khan to forge one Bank of Guyana (BoG) cheque for $9,550,000 in favour of Tappin purporting to show that same was issued by the GRA’s Internal Revenue Department knowing same to be false.
They were not required to plead to the indictable charge, but Singh, Persaud, Khan and Moteeram were released on $300,000 bail each while Tappin was remanded to prison.
The second charge was made out against Singh, Persaud, Moteeram and Khan which stated that on May 11 at GBTI with intent to defraud, they utter to Afsaanah Azimullah, a bank teller, one forged BoG cheque for $9,875,000 in favour of Tappin purporting to show that same was issued by the GRA knowing same to be forged.
On this charge, they were also placed on $300,000 bail each.
The fraud was unearthed after an employee of the GBTI called to GRA to confirm the issuance and the amount on the cheque to be encashed. That was the fourth cheque the perpetrators had forged as three others had already been cashed.
The cheques were cashed at different branches of GBTI – one at the Diamond, EBD location and the others at its Regent Street, Georgetown location.
In a letter to the BoG on the issue, GRA Boss Godfrey Statia confirmed that the cheques were forged since GRA cheques are stamped “not negotiable” which means that the banks are not allowed to cash them but deposit it into the payee’s account.
Further, it was pointed out by the GRA Head that the signatures of the payee on the cheques in question do not clearly match that on their ID cards. It was against this backdrop that Statia said the fraud was perpetrated as a result of negligence at best or collusion at worst on the part of the commercial bank.
He added that the fact that the bank employee would call to verify the authenticity of the cheques shows that there are rules and operating procedures in place to minimise or prevent such occurrences.
Further, the GRA Head requested the BoG to ensure such requests are accepted from its account, and that the commercial bank is liable for the fraud.
Guyana Times understands that the money that was debited from GRA’s account in the fraudulent transactions will have to reinstated.
Meanwhile, the defendants will return to court on June 21, 2021.
Since, the fraud was made public, BoG Governor, Dr Gobind Ganga has warned local commercial banks to exercise due diligence to avoid any acts of fraud.
Dr Ganga had reportedly met with the executives of the bank and cautioned them to be diligent against such acts in the future.
“I have spoken with the bank involved and I have indicated to them that there is need to have more training and more awareness in terms of how one looks at certain cheques and other instrument of payments,” the Central Bank Head had told this publication.
He added, “You really have to be on your Ps and Qs with respect to those who try to beat the system with this kind of fraud. We haven’t had much in recent times, but it’s an eye opener, obviously, that you have to be on the lookout.”
The BoG Governor noted that such acts of fraud are prevalent at various commercial banks. As such, he noted that from the Central Bank’s end, “We continue to ensure that we have high standards in terms of the quality of cheques that are in the system, and we encourage [commercial banks] to ensure that due diligence is being done when you are intermediating a cheque or any form of payment”.