GWI discovers error in debts collected under fired manager

… now says only $922M was recovered, not reported $1.8B

One day after firing its Debt Recovery Manager, Lear Goring, the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) said the monies the unit had managed to recover is close to half of what it had previously announced.

During a press conference on August 10, 2016, it was reported that GWI raked in $1.8 billion in arrears for the period ending July 2016.

This however is incorrect.

According to a missive issued by the entity’s Public Relations Department, “after checks and verification, it was found that the arrears collection figure up to July 2016 is $921,814,791.”

Lear Goring

The Debt Collection Department was, up until a week ago, ran by a twice convicted and deportee Lear Goring, who was hired by the entity’s Managing Director, Dr Richard Van West-Charles.

Goring came to prominence recently when it was discovered that both he and the GWI Managing Director were in fact business partners.

The two are Directors of Atlantic Fuels Inc – a company that obtained a fuel licence under questionable circumstances.

Goring was sent on leave a week ago and officially fired on Thursday following a decision taken by the utility company’s Board of Directors.

Goring was unqualified for the position to which he had been appointed by the GWI Managing Director.

He was also convicted of drug trafficking twice and was deported on both occasions from the United States of

Dr Richard Van West-Charles

America (USA).

Publicly available US court documents show Goring was convicted in the early 1990s before being deported to Guyana in 1993. He was also charged with possession and with intent to distribute cocaine in 1995 and he later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 63 months in prison by Judge K M Moore in a Brooklyn, New York court.

He had reportedly used a forged passport to make his way back to the United States.

With regards to Goring’s appointment as Debt Recovery Unit Manager, Dr Van West-Charles had told this publication that Goring had applied for the job, was interviewed and subsequently hired.

He had defended Goring’s employment, pointing to the $3 billion debts owed to GWI and said he needed a person in the position that he could trust.