International firm to undertake GRA forensic audit
– to remove any possibility of conflicts of interest – Minister Sharma
In a bid to ensure that no conflict of interest arises during any forensic audit into the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the government will be going the route of internationally sourced auditors to conduct the audit, for which Terms of Reference (ToR) is being completed. This is according to Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma, during an interview on Friday and comes at a time when the list of state agencies and funds to be audited has almost been exhausted. Since coming to office, the new administration has launched forensic audits into several statutory agencies, including the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO), National Industrial and Commercial Investments Ltd. (NICIL), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Jagnarine Singh, General Manager of GRDB and Raj Singh, General Secretary of GUYSUCO, have since left their respective portfolios. Their removal (by leave) is a mechanism that Sharma indicated has been employed to clear the way for the auditors to perform their duties in a more conducive atmosphere.
Commissioner of GRA, Kurshid Sattaur
Minister within the Ministry of Finance Jaipaul Sharma
The forensic audits were not performed by Guyana’s audit office, but rather a number of independent auditors. The GRA will thus be the first body that will be audited by an overseas audit firm. Sharma, who was placed in charge of the forensic audits, noted that the GRA is the country’s sole tax collecting body and that moreover, any prospecting auditor would be subjected to the agency as everyone pays taxes .This, he said, could lead to cover ups in the worst case scenario. The Minister also revealed that the ToR is currently being completed, in order to determine the scope/plan for the auditors to use when performing their duties. Sharma made it clear that it was not about pointing fingers. He also affirmed that the asset recovery unit, headed by Presidential Advisor on Sustainable Development Dr. Clive Thomas would deal with siphoned money/ assets that personally benefitted Ministers or the heads of statutory bodies. Commissioner General of the GRA Khurshid Sattaur has been the target of much criticism from the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) when it was in the opposition for supposedly misusing his powers. In fact, last October, the APNU had threatened to bring a malfeasance in office charge against Sattaur after revelations that the Commissioner General was sending emails containing the tax information of several media houses to former President Bharrat Jagdeo. This information was reported to have then been forwarded to former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall. Minister of State Joseph Harmon had contended that that action was an undeniable breach of the Oath of Secrecy that would have been taken by the Chartered Accountant upon his assumption of office. Since the revelations by this newspaper, there have been vociferous calls for Sattaur’s immediate resignation. Sattaur had also faced much criticism for the well publicized “family affair” i.e the employment of two sons- one as a Manager, the other as an Engineer. In addition, his daughter and nephew were also employed with the GRA. Last July, Sattaur and a number of top officials who had accumulated as many as 300 days of leave for their years working at GRA, were sent on leave ahead of this impending audit on the directive of Minister of Finance Winston Jordan.