…“they can’t do due diligence on people they hiring right under their nose”
The appointment of a fraud accused Ambassador, Dr Shamir Ally, by the coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government, is but another indication of how the Administration operates, which further exposes the gap in the rhetoric being espoused as against its actions.
This is the view held by former President, now Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, who on Wednesday pointed to the fact that the
Fraud accused, Guyana Ambassador to Kuwait, Dr Shamir Ally
Administration continuously makes lofty statements such as increased due diligence for foreign investors when “they can’t do due diligence on the people they hiring right under their nose.”
He was at the time asked to weigh in on the fact that Guyana has infact appointed an Ambassador who in 2002, had been charged with financial offences by the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to Jagdeo, the APNU/AFC Government, “it has set all these lofty standards” and speaks about good governance measures and the prevention of corruption but “there is a huge gap between the rhetoric of this Government and what it practices.”
He accused members of the Government of being, “totally aloof,” since its members “don’t walk the markets, they don’t walk the street sides, they don’t go in the communities to find out how hard it is, how many people have lost their jobs and try to help them.”
Jagdeo instead accused Government of being engaged in looking to prove the un-provable.
According to Jagdeo “the Shamir Ally matter is just another one which is indicative of the way this government operates.”
He said the supporters of the coalition APNU will soon come to realise that Government in fact has no interest in their concerns, “they are totally aloof.”
The AFC had over the weekend issued a missive in defence of the Ambassador they had sponsored, and denied he was the mastermind in the US fraud scheme and instead claimed he inherited the accounting system which had landed him in ‘hot water.’
The party said he “vehemently denied the charges, but agreed to pay the US$10,000 penalty under protest.”
Dr Ally and his co-accused had copped an out-of-court plea deal with the SEC to pay fines ranging from US$10,000 to US$50,000.
He was charged in 2002 by the Commission for “the dissemination of false financial information” using his company, Acrodyne.
The Guyana diplomat and others were said to be “aware of numerous and significant problems with Acrodyne’s accounting controls, but failed to assure that Acrodyne’s financial transactions were accurately recorded.”
The AFC said that Dr Ally was employed by Acrodyne for a short period, “from February 2, 1999 to May 9, 1999 as the Cost Accounting Manager… On May 10, 1999, he was promoted to Controller and he served in this position for 15 months up to July 10, 2000.”
Dr Ally was fired from Acrodyne in July 2000, circumstances he blamed on a “power struggle, falling revenue/income and a depleting labour force” in the company.
He was later charged along with two other Acrodyne executives, including its President in May 2002, by the SEC with civil action.
Dr Ally, in seeking to provide an explanation, said Acrodyne prepared its quarterly financial reports “based on some actual, and some estimated figures.”
He said the company would, at the end of the year, do an annual stock taking and these reports would be audited and sent to the SEC.
He maintains that this system of preparing records based in part on estimates “was Standard Operating Procedure at Acrodyne”.
In March 2003, the SEC had ordered Acrodyne to cease and desist from future violations of the anti-fraud, periodic reporting, and books and records provisions of the Exchange.
