Police to investigate GRDB’s forensic audit report

… legal action to be taken against defaulters – Trotman

Government could be moving to take legal actions against officials of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and could be pumping monies into the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to assist as it carries out its investigation.
Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman said on Monday that the report of the forensic audit carried out into the GRDB has revealed that hundreds of millions of dollars had been misused by officials of the then Board, and while many of them resigned following the change of Government, actions would most likely be taken against them.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan on Tuesday presented to Cabinet the reports of the audits carried out into the operations of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) and the Guyana Rice Development Board, and which found that there had been some financial irregularities. The findings of the reports also indicated that there was need for further investigation into these agencies, and while Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson has been instructed to handle the report of the power company, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan was told to have the reports of the GRDB and the GEA submitted to the Police Commissioner.
According to Trotman, Government will allow the law to take its course. However, if the investigations reveal that charges can be laid, Government will move to have the head of these agencies step down. Delving a little deeper into the report, Trotman shared that over $500 billion had passed through the hands of officials of the GRDB from the PetroCaribe Fund.
“The junior Finance Minister who made the presentation to Cabinet highlighted some of the glaring anomalies, where there had not been any paper work or traceable signs or notes accompanying transactions”. It was reported too that persons from the agency was using funds to trade in foreign currencies among other things.
Government back in June 2015 ordered a forensic audit to be conducted into the GRDB in a bid to uncover any potential financial irregularity and corruption.
The accounting investigation was carried out by Nigel Hinds and Associates, a local accounting firm.
Prior to the commencement of the forensic audit of the GRDB, head of the entity Jainarine Singh had been protested against by farmers who called for his removal from the helm of the body. Farmers had demanded outstanding payments amounting to some $1.9 billion to be met by the Government. Government subsequently authorised the release of US$800 million to go towards clearing their debts to the millers, thereby facilitating payments to farmers.
Following its assumption to Government, the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance for Change Government had claimed that the GRDB had misused the money from the PetroCaribe ‘oil for rice deal’ between Guyana and Venezuela. President Granger had said the PetroCaribe Fund – used to meet payments to farmers for rice and paddy shipped to Venezuela – contained less than US$1 million in May 2015. He said Government was forced to make available nearly $4 billion immediately so that poor paddy farmers could be paid.