In case of alleged remigrant duty-free scam … Glenn Lall, others in settlement talks
SETTLEMENT TALKS
The Guyana Chronicle was reliably informed that the request was made in light of the fact that the parties are involved in a settlement.
At this time, the details of what that settlement contains are sketchy.
Narootandeo Brijnanan
Publisher of the Kaieteur News, Mohan “Glenn” Lall, his wife, Bhena Lall, and the Brijnanans were all fingered in an alleged remigrant duty-free scam. The four were slapped with six charges altogether, to which they pleaded not guilty.
The Lalls were arraigned last October, while Narootandeo Brijnanan and his wife, Gharbassi Brijnanan, were charged last month. All four were released on their own recognisance
The Brijnanans were represented by Attorney-at-Law Robin Hunte. He is part of the legal team representing Lall and his wife. The defence was represented by other high- profile lawyers, some of whom are also prominent politicians. In addition to Hunte, the list of lawyers includes Khemraj Ramjattan, Senior Counsel Rex McKay, Nigel Hughes, Christopher Ram, Joseph Harmon, Brendan Glassford and Bettina Glassford.
Representing the prosecution are attorneys-at-law Sandil Kissoon and Mahendra Satram.
REASON FOR CHARGES
The filing of the charges followed the disclosure of details of the alleged duty-free scam which were made public by the Guyana Chronicle after a close examination of the Government of Guyana’s review of the Remigrant Scheme.
Under the remigrant programme, Guyanese who have resided overseas for more than five years and are returning home to reside are entitled to a number of benefits, among which are import duty waivers for vehicles, and tax exemptions for household items, once the items at reference were owned for six months or more in the country where the remigrant was living.
In this case, the Brijnanans were entitled to concessions as two separate individuals, although a joint application was submitted.
The couple, having decided to return to Guyana to live permanently, were entitled to certain tax breaks, so they imported two luxury vehicles. But the address they gave on the registration forms for both vehicles, Lot 8 Continental Park, East Bank Demerara, was that of their son, Navin Sankar, even though the Lalls are the primary users of the vehicles.
Gharbassi Brijnanan
The vehicle, PRR 8398, for instance, was usually parked in front of the Kaieteur News head office on Saffon Street, Charlestown, while PRR 8399 is often seen on Regent Street, in the heart of the city, near Bhena’s Footwear, the shoe business operated by Lall’s wife.
The Brijnanans successfully obtained import-duty concessions in the sum of $4,222,223.55 for each vehicle, totalling in excess of $8M. 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.
If the alleged violations are upheld, it would mean that the Government was cheated out of a total of US$189,000, or almost $40M in import duty for the two vehicles.
At the end of August, after an hours- long standoff between GRA officials and the Brijnanans’ son, Sankar, a high-ranking GRA employee, the vehicles were handed over to the GRA and impounded at the authority’s warehouse.
An investigation was then launched to ensure that procedures and policy, as well as the provisions of the law, were adhered to. The criminal charges stemmed from that investigation.
