Commissioner-General says…
GRA now free to act on alleged duty-free scandal
–now that Chronicle has gone public with story
COMMISSIONER-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Khurshid Sattaur, yesterday told the Guyana Chronicle that the reason he did not act sooner on the matter of the alleged duty-free concession scam involving the publisher of the Kaieteur News, was because he was waiting on a report from the Auditor- General.
He said, “This matter was referred to the Auditor-General when he requested documents from us to conduct his audit. I thought his findings would have come out sooner, and I did not want to preempt his report on the findings.”
The vehicle, PRR 8398, parked outside the Kaieteur News, with several corruption bumper stickers on the back. The stickers read, ‘Say no to corruption. It hurts us all’.
Sattaur admitted that in any other case, the vehicles that are the subject of contention would have already been seized and impounded.
However, given the “presumed involvement” of a prominent figure in society, he chose to “tread cautiously” rather than act in haste and be accused of being “politically- directed” to act.
“It has happened before; there is always the suggestion out there, and people will use all kinds of stories about me being subject to political directives. This is always the case when you act in these matters,” Sattaur said.
He said that given that the details of the alleged duty-free concession scam have been made public by the Guyana Chronicle, it is only natural that the public will expect his office to act, lest it be accused of having double standards.
MADE PUBLIC
The details of the alleged duty-free concession scam were made public following a look by the Guyana Chronicle at the Government of Guyana’s review of the Remigrant Scheme.
Information received indicates that this issue started with husband and wife Narootandeo and Gharbassi Brijnanan, who were, on July 3, 2013 granted permission by the Foreign Affairs Ministry to return to Guyana as “remigrants”, along with the concomitant incentives of the scheme.
Under the remigrant programme, Guyanese who would have resided overseas for more than five years and are returning home to reside are entitled to a number of benefits. These benefits include an import duty-free waiver for vehicles, and tax exemption for household items, once the items at reference were owned for six months or more in the country where the remigrant was living.
As husband and wife, Narootandeo and Gharbassi Brijnanan were entitled to concessions as two separate individuals, although a joint application was submitted.
The duty-free concession is awarded on condition that “the motor vehicle cannot be leased or transferred within three years of registration, and providing that the registration licence, fitness and registration and insurance are submitted for inspection at the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) every six months,” according to a letter issued to the applicant.
The Brijananans, on their application form, indicated that besides household items, they were returning with two 2013 Lexus Suburban L57 vehicles, the chassis numbers of which were listed along with other required information.
On the application form, the chassis numbers for the vehicles were listed as JTJHY7AX7D4100270 and JTJHY7AX6D4094851 with the registration dates in the State of New York being September 25, 2012 and March 3, 2013 correspondingly.
However, on the Bill of Lading for the vehicles, the chassis numbers were listed as JTJHY7AX6D4096745 and JTJHY7AX6D4094851, respectively. This clearly indicates that one of the numbers did not correspond with the chassis number on the application.
Further, for the vehicle bearing chassis number JTJHY7AX6D4094851, it was noticed that the date on the New York-issued Certificate of Title was March 3, 2013. This could only mean that the vehicle was not owned for more than six months before the application was made by the Brijnanans.
If true, this would be a clear violation of the regulation surrounding the application for remigrant status and duty-free concession.
The Guyana Chronicle was able to obtain copies of all the relevant documents — from the application to and approval by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, GRA, and shipping information.
Further, Glenn Lall, owner and publisher of the Kaieteur News, was listed as the closest relative of Naratootandeo Brijnanan on the application form that was submitted to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The Brijnanans gave as their address in Guyana as 221 Number 61 Village, Corentyne Berbice.
In essence, what would have occurred, according to documents perused by the Guyana Chronicle, is that the Brijnanans successfully obtained import duty concession in the sum of $4.222, 223.55 for each vehicle, totaling in excess of $8M.
When contacted by the Guyana Chronicle, Brijnanan said he was unaware of the discrepancies on his application and the Bill of Lading for the vehicles, thereby denying that he was involved in any scam.
He stated that he’d applied for Remigrant Status some five years ago, and has been in the country since then. However, the letter from GRA to the Brijnanans is dated July 8, 2013. Further, the receipt attached to the Bill of Lading is dated September 20, 2013.
When questioned about the conflicting chassis numbers listed on his application and his Bill of Lading, Brijnanan said he could not explain the discrepancy. “I can’t understand; it is supposed to be the same thing that came,” he said.
However, further investigation by the Guyana Chronicle has unfolded more evidence to suggest that Brijnanan was less than honest in disclosing the location of the two Lexus vehicles. “I have the vehicles right here in Berbice with me,” he said.
Information found on the GRA License Revenue Processing System (GRA -LRPS) form indicates that the licence plate numbers for the two vehicles are PRR 8398 and PRR 8399, which are driven by Lall and his wife, Bhena (owner of Bhena’s Footwear).
PRR 8398 is usually prominently parked in front of the Kaieteur News head office on Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, and PRR 8399 is often seen on Regent Street, Georgetown near Bhena’s Footwear.
Also, although the Brijnanans have a Berbice address, it was noted that the address listed on the registration forms for both of the vehicles is Lot 8 Continental Park, East Bank Demerara, which just so happens to be the address of a senior functionary at the GRA, whom is a close acquaintance of the Lalls.
With the Auditor-General’s Office conducting an investigation into alleged scams involving the Remigrant Scheme, it is not sure whether or not this is one of them. So far, Auditor-General Deodat Sharma is yet to return a call to the Guyana Chronicle, which has made several attempts to obtain an update on the current review of the system.
Meanwhile, this newspaper’s research into the source price for a Lexus L570 is about US$80,000. Import duty for such a vehicle would be a total of US$94,500, bringing the total value of the vehicle to US$174,500, or more than G$36M for each of the vehicles imported by the Brijnanans.
It appears, therefore, that the Government was cheated out of a total of US$189,000 (US$94,500 times 2), or almost $40M in import duty for the two vehicles which Lall and his wife are driving.
