AFC financier charged for supplying unregistered drugs to GPHC

Alliance for Change financier Lloyd Singh was on Monday slapped with two counts of supplying unregistered drugs to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
Singh appeared before Georgetown Magistrate Judy Latchman and denied the charges.
The prosecution is contending that the father of five, owner of the International Pharmaceutical Agency at Lot 226 “B” Camp Street, Georgetown, on August 12, 2017 supplied the unregistered drug Rituximab 100mg to the Georgetown Public Hospital in violation of Part 3, Section 28 of the Food and Drugs Regulations Act (Guyana) of 1977.
The prosecution is also contending that the 51-year-old businessman committed the same act on October 23, 2017 at the said location.
In court on Monday, Singh’s attorney, in a bail application, asked the court to release his client on his own recognisance. The lawyer told the court that the charge against his client is bogus.
Magistrate Latchman placed the businessman on $60,000 bail, and put down the case for continuation on July 27.
Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence had revealed last year that, in 2016 and 2017, several firms had been awarded contracts to supply pharmaceuticals to the health sector, but failed to deliver. The International Pharmaceutical Agency (IPA) is one of those companies that failed to supply all of the drugs it was contracted to supply, because it was not qualified to import some specialised pharmaceuticals, it was revealed.
In February 2016, Singh, a major financier of the Alliance For Change Headquarters in Kitty, Georgetown, was hailed by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan for his contribution to the party.
At the opening, party leader, Raphael Trotman described the contribution from Singh as a “political investment”.