Magistrate throws out false declaration charges against Ramps Logistics

All 10 charges against Ramps Logistics (Guyana), for making false declarations to the Guyana Revenue Authority, were dismissed on Tuesday by City Magistrate Dylon Bess.
This was after the court upheld a no-case submission made by the company’s lawyers: Nigel Hughes, Mahendra Satram, and Pratesh Satram.
Particulars of the charges stated that between 2021 and 2022, at Georgetown, the company made several false declarations for consideration by a customs officer on an application presented to him for tax exemption on items.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Shaun Rampersad, was hauled before a city magistrate in October 2022 to answer the charges.
Despite his lawyer’s pleas for him to be placed on self-bail, a magistrate had put Rampersad on bail in the sum of $500,000.
It was the prosecution’s case that the company had falsely declared itself to be the seller of several items, including heavy-duty machines, dehydrated substances, and calcium chloride.
The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) had instituted the charges against the company in October 2022, noting that the accusations were in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Act. According to the GRA, the charges had stemmed from an investigation carried out by its Law Enforcement and Investigations Division.
The 10 charges are not the first run-in Ramps Logistics, a Trinidad-based company, has had with Guyana’s tax agency. It had been revealed in June 2022 that the company was fined $20 million by GRA for violating local customs laws.
Ramps Logistics (Guyana) acts as the agent of motor vessel Seacor Mixteca, and according to GRA, had failed to report the vessel departing Guyana, which violates the Customs Act.
Consequently, the company had opted to pay the fine instead of being taken to court. (G1)