Brutus, 2 others fail to report to SOCU, as ordered by court

…lawyer argues not a breach of bail

Assistant Police Commissioner (ACP) Calvin Brutus, his wife Adonika Aulder and driver, Sergeant Kevin George after being granted bail by Georgetown Magistrates’ Court some two weeks ago have reportedly failed to adhere to the condition of their release.
On October 24, the trio appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty and had several charges related to fraud and money laundering read to them.
The group who are facing charges relating to money laundering and fraud were not allowed to plead to the indictments but Brutus was placed on bail in the sum of $6.2 million, his wife was granted $1 million bail and George $500,000 bail under the condition they report on the second Friday of each month to Superintendent Mahadeo Singh or Deputy Superintendent Frank Harvey between 13:00 hours and 16:30 hours at The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

However, credible sources close to SOCU informed this publication that none of the parties showed up on Friday, November 8.
According to the official, the breach is a clear violation of the court’s instruction and renders bail liable to revocation. The source said that the prosecution will report the matter to the court and request that the bail be revoked.
When contacted on Friday, one of Brutus’ lawyers, Eusi Anderson, said that order was Brutus et al report every 2nd Friday of the month.

“On the 24th of October 2024, Her Worship, Acting Chief Magistrate, Faith Mc Gusty, granted bail to Calvin Brutus on the condition that he is to report on the second Friday of every month to the officers at SOCU, one Mr Harvey and one Mr Singh. The first Friday that we can count would have been Friday, October 25th. The second Friday would have been Friday, November 1,” Anderson said.
He added that “the clock then begins to run again from Friday, November 1st being the end of the second week. Today, Friday, November 8th, is the first Friday. The order says he’s supposed to report on the second Friday of every month. In those circumstances, Mr Calvin Brutus is obligated to report to SOCU next, having reported on the 1st of November. He is then obligated to report next to SOCU on the 15th of November. So, in that regard, as I indicated to you at the starting of this conversation, any mischievous, dishonest, or quite frankly, frivolous lies coming from whatever sources you have that Mr Brutus did not appear at SOCU today in breach of bail conditions will meet the same force that they met when those lies were told to the Magistrate on the 24th of October about him not reporting or making themselves available to SOCU,” the lawyer said.

He said that therefore the next time Brutus is expected to report to SOCU is on November 15.
When asked for clarification regarding the court’s interpretation of a calendar month, an independent attorney unassociated with the matter stated that the court considers a calendar month in its ordinary sense: a period that aligns with the structure of a traditional calendar month.

Brutus
SOCU has said that on January 11, 2024, Brutus allegedly instructed a Superintendent of Police to prepare and issue two cheques valued at $6.4 million and $7.4 million from the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Central Welfare Fund to purchase goods that were never supplied.
Further, on January 31, 2024, he instructed the GPF’s Finance Officer to submit 221 payment vouchers to him to procure goods from his wife’s business, but these vouchers were never returned.
Again, on November 16, 2023, the Finance Officer was instructed by the ACP to prepare a cheque to the tune of $20 million to purchase police regulation shoes for the Quartermasters stores, but those were never supplied.
In addition, several other charges related to purchase of lands were read to Brutus. Although SOCU had filed in excess of 200 charges against this serving member of the GPF, only 30 were dealt with on Thursday.
In light of these charges, Brutus was placed on bail for two counts of money laundering charges, two counts of larceny by a public officer, and two counts relating to obtaining money by false pretence.

Bail was posted hours after the court hearing, and he will return to court on November 18, 2024, to face the remaining charges.
Other charges
The ACP’s wife, was slapped with two counts of money laundering, and was granted $1 million bail. SOCU alleged that during December 2023, Aulder withdrew the sums of $243 million and $180 million from two separate Republic Bank accounts registered to her businesses, and these sums allegedly were derived directly or indirectly from the proceeds of crime.
Further, Brutus and Sergeant Kevin George have jointly been charged for allegedly withdrawing $22 million from the GPF’s procurement office on January 9, 2024.
It was revealed that George never made himself available for questioning, but his lawyers did indicate that SOCU seized the defendant’s vehicle containing his passport and Identification Card, among other documents.
In addition, businessman Asif Zafarally and Brutus have jointly been charged for allegedly withdrawing $71 million from the GPF’s Consumer Cooperative Society for goods that were never supplied.
Sergeant George and Zafarally have each been placed on $500,000 bail, and have been instructed to report to Superintendent Mahadeo Singh every second Friday of the month until the determination of their matters.
Investigation
The investigation began in July 2024, when Brutus was placed on administrative leave after suspicion arose regarding financial irregularities. Initially linked to the Police Force’s Credit Union, the investigation quickly expanded following information provided by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
The assets of ACP Calvin Brutus include $300 million in properties and $500 million across joint bank accounts with his wife. As a result, all of these accounts have been frozen, except his salary account.
As part of the case, it has been revealed that Brutus received monetary gifts from two individuals. These gifts included US$10,000 as a wedding present and $1,000,000 as a Christmas gift in 2023.
After the completion of the investigations, SOCU had approached the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on the way forward. The DPP gave SOCU the green light to move
Brutus had filed an application in the High Court in which he claimed victimisation among other things. The respondents were, the Government, the Commissioner of Police, and others. However, that application has since been withdrawn.
He had also moved to the High Court to seek permission to leave the country to take his pregnant wife for medical attention overseas. However, the court rejected the application, stating that the court could not accept medical documents presented without proper evidence, and underlined the lack of sufficient justification for the trip.
Further, the judge ruled that the application was premature, as Brutus had not yet requested permission from the Permanent Secretary of the Home Affairs Ministry, a mandatory step for public officials.