Govt sues Larry Singh for undelivered $369M in guns, ammo

…had been beneficiary of controversial pharmaceutical warehouse contract

Larry Singh, the businessman at the centre of the Sussex Street, Georgetown drug bond scandal, has been sued by the Government after he failed to deliver over $300M worth of guns and ammunition which he was sole-sourced to supply under the previous APNU/AFC administration.
According to the fixed date application by Attorney General Anil Nandlall, Singh is being sued over a $369.6 million balance on a weapons contract. The businessman’s company, Larry Singh Firearm and Ammunition Dealer, was sole sourced by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board between 2014 and 2016 to supply guns and ammunition to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
The items ordered included hundreds of AK-47 rifles, pistols, and various types of ammunition. A total sum of $380.5 million was paid. Instead, the notice of application says, Singh supplied $10.9 million worth of items, and repeated demands for a refund have proved futile.

The notice of claim provides a breakdown of the contracts, items and sums paid. For instance, the December 15, 2014 contract saw Singh being paid $152 million to supply 500 10-gauge blank cartridges, 50 Taurus 9mm pistols, 500 AK-47 rifles, 200,000 balls of 7.62 x 41 ammunition, and 50,000 9mm pistols. Singh supplied only 700 10- and 12-gauge blank cartridges.
He then signed another contract, dated November 18, 2015, under the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government and was paid $200.2 million to supply 50 9mm Glock pistols, 500 AK-47 rifles, 200,000 balls of 7.62 x 41 ammunition, 50,000 9mm ammunition and 32,100 9mm ball standard rounds. He only supplied the 9mm pistols.
Despite this history of non-supply of contractual items, he was given another contract on March 30, 2016 and paid $27 million to supply 100 AK-47 rifles. According to the Notice of Claim, he supplied nothing.
“The respondent has failed and/or refused to supply the number of weapons and ammunition for which he has received payment, and he is indebted to the Guyana Defence Force in the manner more particularly set out in the Statement of Claim,” the notice states.
Accordingly, the Attorney General is contending that Singh still owes the GDF $369.6 million. He is seeking the full sum of money owed, plus interest, cost and whatever other amounts the court deems appropriate from the businessman, whose firearm dealership is based in Florida. This publication understands that a date for the case is likely to soon be set.
Singh came to prominence back in 2016 when it was revealed during consideration of Financial Papers that the former Government was renting a bond from him for $12.5 million per month for the storage of drugs and medical supplies, while using a company called Linden Holdings to funnel the money to him.
It was also discovered that $25 million was initially spent as a security deposit, in addition to $12.5 million, representing monthly rentals from August to December 2016. The criticism that erupted led then President David Granger to set up a Cabinet sub-committee to investigate the matter and make recommendations.
That committee comprised former Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman as the Chairman, former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and then Minister of State Joseph Harmon. The committee concluded that the contract should be terminated or re-negotiated, since a similar facility could have been found at a cheaper rate.
During the debate on the 2017 Budget in December 2016, a parliamentary delegation accompanied by the media visited the Bond and found condoms, lubricants and some unused refrigerators, but no pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. By the time the then Government exited the arrangement in 2018, over $300 million had already been paid over to the businessman for the bond.