— for Pradoville2, other scams
CABINET has approved the appointment of six attorneys to serve as special prosecutors on several cases, including but not limited to, the range of forensic audits conducted by the APNU+AFC administration when it came into power in May 2015.
The six attorneys are Michael Somersall, Hewely Griffith, Lawrence Harris, Patrice Henry, Compton Richardson, and Trenton Lake.
Last July, Ministers of Legal Affairs and Public Security, Basil Williams and Khemraj Ramjattan, respectively, were tasked with advising Cabinet on the feasibility of establishing a special prosecutorial team.
Government had made it clear that it has no intention of going after any one person or group of persons and gave the assurance that there will be no witch-hunting.
At the announcement of consideration of a special prosecutorial team, Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira described the move by the administration as witch-hunting.
She told reporters that Article 187 of the Constitution of Guyana confers the powers of prosecution in criminal proceedings on the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
WITCH-HUNT
“This new action is a departure from the existing functional and professional system of prosecutions. The proposal to create a special prosecutions unit cannot be seen as anything else but further institutionalisation of another attempt to witch-hunt political opponents,” she said in a statement to the media last year.
“Were the Government to go through the DPP and the Guyana Police Force, both professional bodies governed by the Constitution and statute, they would be expected to abide by a level of professionalism and follow specific guidelines and act based on evidence,” she added, while noting that the APNU+AFC administration clearly has no faith in the aforementioned entities.
She strongly believes that Government’s move to establish the team is designed to target her party.
Meanwhile, on Friday during a post-Cabinet press briefing held at the Ministry of the Presidency, Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary Joseph Harmon told reporters that he was not in a position to disclose the names of the attorneys who have agreed to work on the special prosecutorial team, but noted that they are all qualified and practising attorneys in private practice.
He disclosed too that Government received two recommendations from persons who reside within CARICOM. He said that as far as he is aware, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, is in the process of finalising “retainer arrangements” and for that reason the names of the attorneys have not been publicised.
“… I believe that is why the Attorney General has not decided to let go of these names like that, because they are still looking at what retainer arrangements will take place; but I want to give you the assurance that all of the persons whom the Attorney General had spoken to have said they are prepared to work on these cases, and in fact, there are some persons who were not contacted but heard about it – they are also prepared,” Harmon told reporters.
The Minister of State said too that the attorneys who will form part of the team represent a “pool of skills [and] talent who are prepared to work with us to ensure that those wrongs of the past are dealt with in a very swift manner.”
Asked whether the attorneys have begun engagements with the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), the Cabinet Secretary was not in a position to state.
He noted, however, that there are persons assisting with the financial analysis of the work to be done by SARU. Those persons reside abroad, making reference to the representatives of the World Bank who visited Guyana last year.
Efforts, he said, are continuing to ensure that the law relating to the SARU is crafted well.
BEFORE CABINET
“We are at a point where it is already crafted and before Cabinet. The next stage is for it to go before the National Assembly and be debated and passed into law,” added Harmon.
Last October, Harmon had told reporters that Government intended to set up a special prosecutorial team to prepare reports into the forensic audits which have been completed on the Sparendaam housing project, commonly known as ‘Pradoville Two’ and the Guyana Cricket World Cup Inc.
He had said then that both regional and international assistance would be provided in each case.
“Cabinet, upon examination of the reports, concluded that in both cases there were indications of criminal culpability that required further investigation. Cabinet agreed that in each case a special prosecutors’ team would be established, and that the Minister of Legal Affairs would submit a report to Cabinet — within one week — on the composition of such a team,” he had stated.
He said the special prosecuting team would not be limited to local personnel and would have a “wider sweep.”
“We are looking to bring persons who are capable of handling these matters. Yes, we are looking at the region in the first instance as well and then further [sic] afield,” he stated.
When questioned about the roles of SOCU conducting the prosecution of cases such as ‘Pradoville Two,’ he had reminded reporters that SOCU is part of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
“These are criminal investigations, and therefore the decision is that it goes to the police and the police decide whether it is SOCU or the Criminal Investigation Department [that would] deal with [the investigations]; but as far as Government is concerned, the matter should be investigated by the criminal investigation elements within the Guyana Police Force.”
In the ‘Pradoville Two’ matter, it was found that plots of land were transferred at values that were not reflective of market prices at the time and according to the report, the valuations provided were “unusual for the time and location.”
The audit into the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) has revealed that some $257M were spent on the development of the housing project, and the value of land there should have been $82.8M per acre; but the lands were sold for significantly less.
During development of the project, a transmission tower belonging to the National Communications Network (NCN) was removed and relocated by the former People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to facilitate the development of the area.
“Instead of accumulating all the costs associated with the Sparendaam Project — including the market value of the land — in a special account to be applied in arriving at the price to be charged per houselot, NICIL’s Board and Cabinet were complicit in charging the related costs of $257.049M to NCN in the form of equity investment, and to CH&PA in the form of receivables.
“The fact that several key Cabinet members are the beneficiaries of the houselots renders it highly inappropriate for the very Cabinet to approve of the charging of the expenditure to the accounts of NCN and CH&PA,” the audit report stated.
SARU has recommended that the Attorney General put systems in place so that charges of “misconduct in public office” could be laid against former President Bharrat Jagdeo and five ministers of the former administration: Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud; Public Service Minister Dr. Jennifer Westford; Education Minister Priya Manickchand; Labour Minister Dr. Nanda Gopaul; and Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee
