Govt needs to work to change public perception of SOCU – UK envoy

Outgoing British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn believes the new Government has to work on changing the public’s perception of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) – an arm of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) which investigates financial and other organised crimes.

Over the years, the United Kingdom Government has been working closely with the white-collar crime-fighting agency, specifically to help the Unit build capacity.
But SOCU has been mired in lots of controversies – from being accused of witch-hunting the political opponents of the Government of the day, to the discovery of massive fraud where documents were falsified and signatures forged.
SOCU was established in 2014 on the recommendation of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) and was intended to be a police unit operating under the authority of the Police Commissioner but with a close relationship to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Its sole purpose was to investigate money laundering and the financing of terrorism under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing for Terrorism (AMLCFT) Act.
But the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) – whilst in opposition – had accused the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government of using the agency as a political tool to witch-hunt their political opponents.
In fact, 19 “trumped-up” fraud charges which were instituted against the then Housing Minister Irfaan Ali were only recently withdrawn by SOCU. Ali, who is now President, had argued that the case brought against him was tantamount to an abuse of the court’s process.
SOCU has also failed to achieve successful prosecutions in many of the matters it was investigating, with the then Attorney General Basil Williams asserting in December 2019 that “one of the things we have to deal with is the question of investigations, prosecutions and convictions for money laundering offences, which I believe from 2015 to now, we haven’t had any, not one!”
SOCU has also come under fire with several allegations of corruption and mismanagement being made against it by persons it would have investigated and had business dealings with. A forensic audit into the operations of SOCU, conducted by the Guyana Police Force, found cases of falsified invoices bearing forged signatures.
Other irregularities that were unearthed include falsified records as well as missing documents. There were also reports of listed expenditure being concocted and receipts being backdated.
All these developments have led to the public perception of the agency being compromised.
And according to the British High Commissioner, perception carries more weight than reality.
“Clearly there was a perception among some people, that it [SOCU] was involved in a process that was not appropriate. I’m not sure I necessarily agree with that but the important thing is that there was a perception. And when it comes to Government agencies, the perception is often more important than the reality,” Ambassador Quinn stated during a recent interview with <<<Guyana Times>>>.
In this regard, he said it is critical for the Government to work to change that public perception. He reasoned that it is important for any Government agency to ensure it does not create a perception that it is involved in anything “inappropriate”.
One way to address this issue, the UK envoy said, would be to have an effective public relations operation – something which he said was recommended by British security expert Lt Col (rtd) Russell Combe, who had been advising the former Government on reforms for the Guyana Police Force.
Meanwhile, the UK diplomat said while he has had meetings with several of the new Government officials, including President Dr Irfaan Ali, to discuss areas of mutual interest, including the security sector reform programme, there was no specific mention of SOCU.
“Looking forward, it’s [SOCU] part of that broader security sector reform project…so we’re talking to the Government as to exactly how that might operate going forward,” Ambassador Quinn stated.
In the past few years, the British Government had supported SOCU in building capacity through the services of advisor Sam Sittlington. However, his contract was terminated after it was discovered that he had business interests that could pose a conflict of interest with the work he was tasked to perform at SOCU.
Going forward, Ambassador Quinn indicated that the British Government would now explore different ways in which it may be able to support SOCU.
“To be honest, we haven’t actually sat down and talked in any great detail as to what we would do. We need to first understand what the requirements are of SOCU…what are the issues that might need to be addressed and how might we do that,” he stated. (Devina Samaroo)