Embattled Calvin Brutus slapped with 201 new charges

…granted over $10M bail

Embattled Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Calvin Brutus, has been slapped with 201 new charges that pertain to liability of officer, with the acting chief magistrate imposing bail in the sum of over $10 Million for these new charges.

On Monday, Brutus appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty, to answer to 201 new charges. These charges, which pertain to the offence of liability of an official, come on the heels of the 30 charges he faced at his last court appearance in October.
Brutus, who was already out on $6.2 million bail for previous charges, was placed on $10,050,000 million bail during Monday’s sitting and ordered to return to court on January 17, 2025 to answer more new charges.
The embattled senior police officer will also be returning to court on December 18, 2024, for the previous charges. In a brief interview with the media outside the courtroom, Brutus’ legal team assured that they would be vigorously defending these charges at the next court date.
The charges have their genesis in the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU’s) investigation of Brutus, which began in July 2024. Initially linked to the Police Force’s Credit Union, the investigation quickly expanded following information provided by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
The Assistant Police Commissioner’s assets include $300 million in properties and $500 million across joint bank accounts with his wife, who has also been charged. As a result, most of these accounts have been frozen.
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.
When Brutus appeared in court last month, he was not allowed to plead to the indictments because they were laid as indictable matters. SOCU 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.
Meanwhile, the ACP’s wife, Adonika Aulder, 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 Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) procurement office on January 9, 2024. In addition, businessman Asif Zafarally and Brutus have jointly been charged for allegedly withdrawing $71 million from the Guyana Police Force’s Consumer Cooperative Society for goods that were never supplied.
Only recently, Brutus and his wife were ordered by the High Court to pay $750,000 in court cost to several respondents after discontinuing yet another High Court action, which they filed on the August 19, 2024 against the Head of SOCU, the Commissioner of Police and Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who has made it clear he will go after the ACP for payment of these costs. (G3)