Lawyer pledges to help Pres. Ramotar fight corruption at all levels

Ready to prosecute Fip Motilall, SRKN’ for free

Pull Quote: “…he (Donald Ramotar) is a good man who needs the assistance of the citizens of this country,” Puran

Attorney-at-Law, Vic Puran, says that he is volunteering his services to prosecute ‘pro bono’ (i: e for free) as it relates to Makeswhar ‘Fip’ Motilall and Dr. Krishna Narine of SRKN’Gineering. He says enough evidence exists to warrant an investigation.
The local attorney says that his motivation is to aid President Donald Ramotar in the President’s bid to cleanse and purge corruption where it exists in the public domain. The aim is to create a better country for all.

  Puran says that he has known the President in a personal capacity for over four decades, “since the days when we were in the PYO together…I have known the president to be a person of high moral integrity in public life as well as in his personal life.”
He said that there has never been a rumour which has raised its head against now President Ramotar. “He is a good man who needs the assistance of the citizens of this country…I cannot see in this nation a better person suitable to be President.
“My fear is that he will be overwhelmed by what surrounds him and out of the sheer weight of frustration he may one day walk out of the Office of the President and give up his presidency because the task he faces is insurmountable at a personal level.
“Should this tragic event occur then the presidency would be open to the grasp of rogues and vagabonds,” Puran opined.
As such he has taken the decision to assist Donald Ramotar by providing his legal services free of cost when it comes to the prosecution of ‘any public officer or person stealing public funds’ inclusive of Messers Naraine and Motilall.
Puran says that clearly there is enough to warrant an investigation as it relates to ‘obtaining money by false pretences’ which the learned attorney says is a criminal offence.
He says, too, that those who acted on behalf of the client which in this case is the Government of Guyana can also be prosecuted for ‘aiding and abetting’ the offence if it can be shown that persons without the requisite credentials were awarded contracts to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Winston Brassington and Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh were two public officers who acted on behalf of the Government of Guyana and an investigation must be launched as to how ‘Fip’ Motilall was awarded the contract in the first instance, Puran said.
“Clearly, the press carried articles that ‘Fip’ Motilall was the manager of a Murti-shop and he never provided any public evidence that he had built any road, anywhere in his life.”

Ravi Naraine

Puran has made his position public and has since told this publication that it is a tragedy in Guyana that the police will not launch an investigation into governmental affairs unless called upon by the Government.
Puran is adamant that the government must immediately call in the police to investigate whether Dr. Naraine “passed for payment works which did not meet the standard for which he was paid to oversee.”
He was referring to Dr. Naraine’s role in approving payment certificates for the Government to issue monies to ‘Fip’ Motilall for works he would have purportedly completed and which the Government now contends was done in a sub-standard manner.
The attorney says that in this case both contractors Dr. Naraine and ‘Fip’ Motilall would have had to make representation to the client (government) as it relates to their credentials to undertake such a project which would have had been subject to due diligence checks by the administration which is tasked with disbursing public funds.
The government has released the documentation for Dr. Naraine’s involvement in the project which also documents his responsibilities as it relates to oversight on the US$15.4M project handed to Fip Motilall.
SRKN’s contract for the five man team was G$63.5M which works out to some US$231 per day payable to Dr. Narine.
According to Puran, “The goodly doctor held himself out to be capable of supervising the work and may have indeed represented that he conducted such supervision and obtained monies…I am prepared to give legal advice to a police investigating team and to prosecute if an offence is disclosed.”
Puran added, “These matters do not require any great degree of skill to detect fraud…Let us take for example the Minister of Finance who was a Guyana Scholar.”
The attorney said that Dr Singh holds a ‘Phd’ in Finance and Accountancy and was a Former Deputy Auditor General.
“Dr Singh goes to the opening of a project ($69M NIS Building in Berbice) and by mental arithmetic he has the capacity to calculate the number of concrete blocks required + bm of wood + paint + zinc sheets + electrical + plumbing + miscellaneous and he would see whether the public monies of which he is the keeper of the purse has been properly spent.”
Puran said that it appears that “Dr Singh is of the view that all he has to do is disburse public funds without ensuring value is received for money….perhaps I have missed it but I have never noticed Dr Singh saying publicly that value for money was not received.