GRA taxgate

BY EDWARD LAYNE

As the controversy surrounding the abrupt dismissal of former Commissioner General, Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Khurshid Sattaur deepens, questions are now being raised as to whether the Board of Directors of GRA allowed natural justice to prevail with regards to Sattaur’s dismissal last week.

It is important to note that Sattaur was late December sent on 200 days annual leave to facilitate a comprehensive audit of the revenue agency by an international firm.

However, according to Chairman the Board Rawle Lucas, that audit has not yet commenced, but the GRA boss was sent packing based merely on “information which has emerged”.

“As far as I know that audit has not taken place as yet, but the information which has been disclosed to the public with respect to the ending of the working relationship between Mr Sattaur and the Guyana Revenue Authority is based on information which came to the attention of the board. Essentially what I am saying is that while the audit has not taken place as yet, there is other information which has emerged that led the board to take the decision that it took,” Lucas told Guyana Times Monday.

When pressed as to whether that “information which has emerged” was as a result of an internal probe, Lucas declined to say, noting that the board is not ready to divulge that information.

“At this particular point in time, the board is not really prepared to discuss some of the details of its work that led to the decision that it took, but what is important for you to understand is that the board was satisfied with the decision it had and that was the best thing to do in the interest of the public,” he said.

Despite being pressed to confirm or deny whether there was some kind of probe that led to Sattaur’s dismissal, Lucas continued to dodge the questions.

However, sources close to the Board confirmed there was no investigation into the alleged wrongdoings involving Sattaur.
Many believed Sattaur was targeted ever since the coalition government took office back in May 201 and it was “just a matter of time” before he was sent packing.

Sattaur had always been under fire from the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change, even when in opposition.
Last week, the GRA Board via a press statement announced that the revenue agency was parting ways with Sattaur effective March 1, 2016.

The statement said the decision was a unanimous one by the board during its 171st meeting held last Thursday.
Sattaur’s sacking comes weeks after he was sent on 200 days leave he had accumulated over a period of time.
The board of directors last month said it took a unanimous decision to send the Commissioner on leave with immediate effect. During this period, government said it would be contracting an international firm to undertake a forensic audit of GRA.

Following his departure he was visited by junior staff of the Revenue Authority, who took away his firearm and other items belonging to the state entity.

This move evoked public outcry, after which the board clarified that it was only doing what was required by law.
“We felt compelled to protect the data of our taxpayers. The only thing that we were interested in receiving from the Commissioner was anything he had in his possession that related to the work of GRA”, Chairman Rawle Lucas had told journalists.

Meanwhile Sattaur in response to the decision to fire him, said it was obvious, through the many public pronouncements by the Prime Minister that it would be uncomfortable for him to continue as Head of the GRA under the new administration.
Sattaur has since made some bombshell revelations about a tax scandal at the Revenue Authority as he revealed several unscrupulous, illegal undertakings and malpractices taking place at the country’s tax and revenue collection agency.

Sattaur on Friday last also made damning accusations about illegal and suspicious removal of tax information and files which were photocopied after the coalition government took office last year.

Those files, he said, related directly to records pertaining to Vice President and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan.

The former Commissioner General shockingly revealed that a “known” individual had photocopied and removed documents and he was forced to turn a “blind eye”.

He also promised to release the names of other individuals whose information would have been accessed.