President admits diverting US$18M from Consolidated Fund

Signing bonus scandal

…“there is no need to make it public”
…claims it’s an escrow account

President David Granger had admitted that he had instructed that the US$18 million signing bonus be placed in a Bank of Guyana account instead of the Consolidated Fund.
The President made the comment on Wednesday as pressure mounts over what has been described as a breach of financial regulations governing such revenues. The President defended the move by saying that it was a legitimate Government of Guyana exercise.
According to Granger, in making such a decision, there was never an intention to

deceive the nation but rather the transaction was not revealed because of national security implications. He claimed that at the time when the US$18 million signing bonus was received, it was meant to be used for “certain matters” which he perceived were of national security interest and at that time, it was the right “thing to do so that we can have access in the event of a national security emergency”.
Speaking to reporters on the sideline of an event at State House on Wednesday, the President said, “…it is a legitimate Government of Guyana exercise. It is in the Bank of Guyana in an escrow account…it was not dishonestly acquired and cannot be used for purposes it was not intended …so, as far as I am concerned, it is a legitimate Government of Guyana practice. The money has not been dishonestly acquired.”
Questioned on the decision to keep the money a secret from Guyanese, the Head of State said that “evidence of non-disclosure does not mean it’s evidence of an intention of deception…there was no need to make it public”.
The Government has been consistently denying receiving the money, but a document by Finance Secretary Hector Butts was leaked to Guyana Times and it stated there was a request that the Bank of Guyana’s Governor set up a special account to deposit the money.
A few months ago, Chartered Accountant, Christopher Ram, revealed to the nation that Government had collected a US$20-million-dollar signing bonus from the oil company. However, Government’s receipt of this bonus was denied by Finance Minister Winston Jordan; Minister of State, Joseph Harmon; and Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman, who had all pleaded ignorance of the bonus when asked by the media.
After the leaked document was published by Guyana Times, ExxonMobil has since said that they in fact paid US$18 million over to the Government.
In lashing out at the Government for lying to the nation, Ram has since called for an inquiry to be held into all deals negotiated by the Natural Resources Ministry, and for criminal charges to be instituted against ministers at the centre of the controversy.
Now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag, Ram noted, there are immediate and longer-term implications of this saga from which Guyana may forever suffer. One of these implications, he pointed out, is that high-level officials of the Finance Ministry, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, and the Bank of Guyana — inclusive of the Audit Committee — have been ensnared in this conspiracy.
Ram added it means that Article 216 of the Constitution of Guyana has been knowingly violated; “that critical information contained in the Estimates of Expenditure now being considered by the National Assembly is inaccurate, incorrect and meaningless; that the 2016 financial statements of the Government and of the Consolidated Fund are for 2016 similarly deficient.”
Meanwhile, in light of revelations Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has called for the resignation of the entire Government after they deceived Guyanese. On Friday, during his Budget 2018 presentation, Jagdeo noted the fact that a special account was set up breaches the financial laws of the country, while adding that the monies ought to have been deposited into the account of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) or the Consolidated Fund.
Jagdeo contended that the funds should have been included in the budget, adding that it was understated by over $4 billion. This, he said, is grounds to call for the withdrawing of the entire 2018 estimates because it translates to being not only fraudulent but also illegal.
Adding its voice to the condemnation of the Government’s action, the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc (TIGI) and other anti-corruption advocates are up in arms over revelations that Government had moved to open a secret account with the Bank of Guyana (BoG) to facilitate receipt of a signing bonus.
According to the TIGI, the coalition, while on the Opposition benches, had been vociferous about the transparent management of state finances. Now that it has formed the Government, it is failing to show that it can accountably manage oil resources.
Government’s receipt of this bonus was initially denied by Finance Minister Winston Jordan; Minister of State, Joseph Harmon; and Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman, who had all pleaded ignorance of the bonus when asked by the media.
After months of denial, the Natural Resources Minister on Friday told the National Assembly that Government did receive a large sum of money from oil giant ExxonMobil following the signing of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). The Finance Minister also admitted that the money was received. ExxonMobil has since said that the company paid over the money to Government last year.