Former GRDB accountant to know fate on February 11

Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan announced that she will be giving her judgement in one of the matters involving former accountant of Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Peter Ramcharran.

This was disclosed at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts when the matter was called on Friday.
The Chief Magistrate stated that the ruling will be handed down on February 11, 2020.
Presently, the Chief Magistrate is handling 22 of the cases filed against the accused while Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus is presiding over the other 17 charges.
Particulars of the first five charges allege that between the years 2011 and 2015, Ramcharran, while being the accountant of GRDB, failed to enter some $414 million in the GRDB’s ledger.
Ramcharran was slapped with 17 other charges which allege that he, along with former General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Jagnarine Singh and his deputy, Madanlall Ramraj, omitted entries into the company’s ledger.
The charges allege that Ramcharran failed to enter true entries of over $4.2 million into the company’s ledger, knowing that it was contrary to standard operating procedures between 2011 and 2012, at the company’s Lot 16-17 Cowan Street, Kingston head office.
The other charges allege that Ramcharran along with Singh and Ramraj fraudulently took $5.1 million or used the sum for their own use and benefit, or any use and purpose other than that of the GRDB.
The court heard that an arrest warrant was issued for Ramcharran since 2017 after he was contacted on June 5, 2017, via Facebook and WhatsApp.
Head of SOCU, Sydney James had testified that he had contacted Ramcharran and disclosed that he told him that he was fearful to return to Guyana.
An arrest warrant was then issued but Ramcharran sought legal counsel and attempted to fight his extradition. He was unsuccessful when a Canadian court had denied an application.
The matters are being prosecuted by Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) Prosecutor Patrice Henry.