SOCU to probe multimillion-dollar conspiracy to defraud City Hall

– Mayor welcomes investigation

The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) has been called in to investigate a conspiracy allegedly involving staffers of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, some councillors and a contractor to defraud the City of millions of dollars.
According to information reaching Guyana Times, the Georgetown-based contractor (named withheld) was hired by City Hall (M&CC) in October 2015 to execute works such as weeding parapets, racking up debris, desilting alleyways and street drains, clearing empty lots, cutting down trees, and painting tree trunks and lanterns. The contractor, through his lawyer, is now claiming that the M&CC owes his company a whopping $127 million for works done between 2015 and 2017.
City Hall records have shown that the contractor was already paid in excess of $130 million for the period 2016 to 2018. In fact, back in November 2017, a senior member of staff at the City Council wrote the then A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government for help in footing the bill for the services provided by the company, which amounted to $127.5 million for the period 2015 to 2017.
However, in November 2020, another senior City Hall official signed a letter prepared by the owner of the contracting firm, accepting that the M&CC owes the company some $128,750,000.
Then last month the City Council moved a motion at its statutory meeting resolving that 25 per cent of the money allegedly owed to the contractor be paid immediately, and that a payment plan to liquidate the balance be developed.
Some City Hall officials are contending that the motion was illegal in the first place. This has led to an internal investigation, during which records to date show that the contractor received a total of $130,050,022 in payments from the municipality for the period 2016 to 2018. It was also found that all cheques were made out to the owner, and not to the contracting company.
Further, while the contractor claimed that he had six different contracts with the City for various sums, checks made within the Town Clerk’s Office have unearthed only three contracts. However, it was noted that one of the senior M&CC officials fingered in this matter had submitted six contracts, which amounted to a total sum of $136 million.
In light of these revelations, some City Hall officials believe “there is a conspiracy with staff, the contractor and…councillors to defraud the Municipality.”
As a result, a report has been filed with SOCU – an arm of the Guyana Police Force that deals with white-collar crimes – and an investigation has been launched.
This move has been welcomed by Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine. In a statement on Thursday, Narine said, “I welcome this probe, and invite SOCU to conduct its investigations throughout the administrative departments of City Hall.”
Narine reminded that dissatisfaction had previously been expressed with the administration of the Council, and recommendations had been made, which have not been considered by the Local Government Commission to date. These challenges have varied from failure to execute projects, to misleading the Council, to incompetence of officers.
“As Mayor, I have complained about administrative staff taking political directives outside of the Council, rather than effecting the decisions of the Council. This has led to a significant breakdown in the management of the resources of the Council,” the Georgetown Mayor posited.
In fact, he disclosed that, only recently, the Council inquired about solid waste assets received from the Local Government Ministry, and is yet to receive a report.
Mayor Narine has expressed hope that the SOCU probe is conducted professionally, and provides further guidance to the Local Government Commission. (G-8)