Fraud at Public Service Ministry now in excess of $600M; more vouchers surface
By Leroy Smith
Former Minister of Public Service, Jennifer Westford
[www.inewsguyana.com] – iNews has been reliably informed that the police are now in possession of two more vouchers that were used by former People’s Progressive Party Minister, Jennifer Westford.
According to information received, the vouchers now take the total amount of money that was requested by the Minister to in excess of $600 million and were issued to her by officials from the then Office of the President.
When contacted by iNews, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum would not confirm the total amount which is now the subject of the fraud investigation but confirmed that the police did receive two other vouchers this week from the Public Service Ministry.
Other police sources who have been communicating with iNews indicated that there are many persons within the ministry who are cooperating with the police and sharing information in relation to the ongoing investigation.
Westford has been fingered in the misappropriation of funds from the ministry that she once headed, under the guise that the funds were used to conduct a review of the services and programs of the Public Service.
However, employees there said there was no review conducted and the monies cannot be accounted for.
The initial figure that the police were investigating in relation to Westford’s fraud matter was $120 million but that soon jumped to more than $170 million. The figure then moved to more than $400 million and now stands at in excess of $600 million.
Westford was recently charged with four counts of attempted larceny, involving a vehicle scam during her tenure as Public Service Minister. She was placed on $800,000 bail.
