Legally impossible to steal from oneself – Nandlall

Law books vendetta

…calls for SOCU to do honourable thing and withdraw charges

Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall has issued a call for the charges of larceny by bailee instituted against him to be withdrawn. This comes after the publishers of the law books he is accused of stealing affirmed that the law books were indeed being delivered to him in a personal and not official capacity.
After checks of its database, Lexis Nexis, the United Kingdom-based publisher of the law reports, stated that the account was and always has been under Nandlall’s name for more than 10 years. In fact, the publisher stated there was no

arrangement with the Government of Guyana as the owner of the reports.
“During the year 2012, we were instructed to directly deliver the said law reports and correspondence to him (at the Attorney General Chambers). We are unable to find any subscriptions for Law Reports of the Commonwealth for the Government of Guyana or the Attorney General’s Chambers from 2012 to 2015 and even up to present,” the publisher made known in its correspondence.
The fact that Nandlall was receiving the books on his personal behalf and not the Government of Guyana’s contradicts the charges brought against him by members of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
The charges detail that between May 15 and May 29, 2015, while being a bailee (custodian), Nandlall fraudulently converted to his own use and benefit 14 Commonwealth Law Reports, valued $2.3 million, which SOCU alleges he unlawfully retained after demitting office in 2015.
Commenting on the new development, Nandlall stated that it was legally impossible for someone to steal his own property and thus, the charges could only be an expression of malice and incompetence. He noted that the honourable thing for any professional to do would be to withdraw the charges, as they are “bad in law”.
“The correspondence is self-explanatory. It corroborates every material detail I disclosed about this transaction over a year ago. However, I wish to highlight the company’s assertion that they never sold and delivered these books to the Government of Guyana, nor the Attorney General Chambers, nor the Ministry of Legal Affairs between the period 2012-2015, or even to date,” Nandlall stated in response to the correspondence.
He noted that the publisher attested to “at all times (having) these books sold and delivered to me and that it was I, who directed their delivery to the Ministry, during my tenure as a Minister. This correspondence should finally put to rest the issue of ownership of those books.”
“It is not legally possible for a person to steal his own property. The charge instituted against me, therefore, is not only bad in law, but it is an expression of malice and incompetence by those who instituted it and by those who inspired its institution.”
He reminded that from the time he was brought before the court, he had stated that the charge had nothing to do with law, but more to do with political witch-hunting and a political vendetta.
“I am being vindicated with each passing day. A professional worth his salt would do the honourable thing and withdraw the charge,” he said. “But I doubt this will happen in this instance.”
Back in November 2015, Legal Affairs Ministry Permanent Secretary Indira Ananjit was sent on 52 days’ leave after the law books were found missing. This caused an audit to be launched by the Auditor General’s Office to locate the books. Nandlall has repeatedly said that the books were part of his conditions of service, an assertion backed up by former President Donald Ramotar.
He had explained on previous occasions that when he was appointed Attorney General, he requested as part of his contract, of service for the Government of Guyana to stand the expense for his subscriptions for the Commonwealth law books.
“I was subscribing to this particular law report over a decade before my appointment as Attorney General. When I was offered the position, one of the conditions I asked for is for the Government of Guyana to continue to pay the subscription of these books, because I did not want to break the subscription,” Nandlall had pointed out.
Insisting that nothing was abnormal about the practice, the former AG had argued that such was done by other Government Ministries such as Finance and Health.
He had expressed awareness that for decades prior, the Government had paid for professional and technical publications, journals, periodicals, and magazines. This, he said, had been done for Ministers as well as professional and technical personnel.