THE Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) on Thursday officially charged former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall with Larceny By Bailee in connection with a number of law books which he carried away from the Ministry of Legal Affairs, saying he was given them by former President, Donald Ramotar during his tenure in office.
The case was called before Magistrate Fabio Azore and Nandlall, 44, of 28-29 Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown, was not required to plead to the charge which alleged that he fraudulently converted 14 Commonwealth Law Reports valued at GY$2.3 million to his own use, as Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs.
He is being represented by a battery of lawyers, led by Glen Hanoman. He was released on his own recognizance and later stepped out of the prisoners’ dock to sign the recognizance.
Nandlall initially was scheduled to appear before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on Thursday afternoon. However, the magistrate stood the matter down for Friday for hearing at 09:00hrs at the Georgetown Magistrates Court. This action by the magistrate was met with much disappointment by the Special Prosecutor assigned to the case, Patrice Henry and Head of SOCU, Sydney James.

The SOCU head had told the Guyana Chronicle earlier in the day that Nandlall was not cooperating with investigators. According to James, even though during questioning on Monday Nandlall claimed that the books were secured in a house and the keys were with his wife overseas, the former AG subsequently told reporters that he had no intention of returning the books.
Meanwhile Nandlall, speaking with media operatives after leaving the courtroom, said the charge is not surprising, since he said it has a political and sinister motive. “The books are presently US$2,000 and the state will spend millions to prosecute this charge and it will go nowhere, the charge should not have been filed since I’ve already instituted proceedings in the constitutional court, since the constitution is very clear that a magistrate ought to defer to the superiority of the High Court and to the superior law of the land,” he told reporters.

Breaking his spirit

Nandlall said he is humbled at the expense to which the authorities are willing to go in breaking his spirit, but the charge has catapulted him into the line of many illustrious politicians who were also charged as part of the political struggle. None of the politicians Nandlall referred to was charged for allegedly stealing state properties. “The criminal justice system is being used as a political instrument, the state paid my light bills, phone bills, and also my subscription fees, the state can’t claim my cellphone because they paid my phone bill, they can’t claim my electrical appliances because they paid my light bill, similarly they can’t claim the law books, because they don’t have any relationship with the supply of the law books, I was being supplied those law books that predated a decade before my appointment.” Nandlall said.
Over the last two years, Nandlall has repeatedly confirmed that while he was AG, law books were purchased for him by the state with approval by former president Ramotar. The missing books were bought from Lexis Nexis (U.K.), publishers of the Commonwealth Law Reports, and are said to be worth over US$2.5M. However, after the PPP was unseated in 2015, Nandlall took possession of the books which were bought for him as AG, by the state. At a press conference held at Freedom House today after being released by SOCU, Nandlall said that the law books are in his possession and he has no intention of returning them to the State. He subsequently secured an order in the High Court which bars the police from seizing the books.

Flagrant misuse
Former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Legal Affairs, Melissa Tucker, had told the Audit Office that the alleged pact between Nandlall and Ramotar, regarding the purchase of law books was a “flagrant breach” of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA). Tucker had made the comments in her response to the Auditor General’s findings into an audit of the missing books. The Auditor General in its conclusion had said that the Commonwealth Law Books acquired by the ministry were not subject to storekeeping procedures and were not required, since they were part of his condition of service. However, the then Permanent Secretary, Tucker, made it clear that the ministry was never privy to any condition of service for Nandlall, which included the purchase of law reports. Tucker said the “the alleged agreement between the former AG and former President Ramotar circumvents the procedural accountability of the Budget Agency that is governed by the Stores Regulations 1993 and the FMAA 2003.” She added that the purchase of the law books, with public funds for Nandlall’s personal use was, “A flagrant misuse of public funds. Property bought with public funds by the ministry ought to remain the property of the ministry,” Tucker stated.

She said, “The ministry feels compelled to remind you (Auditor General) that according to the FMAA: Public money means all money belonging to the State, received or collected by officials in their capacity or by any person authorised to receive or collect such money.” In addition, Tucker stated that Section 48 of the FMAA, which speaks of the misuse of public funds, provides that: “A minister or official shall not in any manner misuse, misapply, or improperly dispose of public money.”
Additionally, the audit had found that the books were not subject to storekeeping, according to Section 18 of the Stores Regulations 1993, which states, “All goods purchased shall be taken to the store and shall be subject to storekeeping procedures outlined in these regulations.” Stating that the ministry had no evidence of the agreement between Nandlall and Ramotar, Tucker said that, “Even assuming that there was such an agreement, the use of public funds in this manner is against the FMAA.” She added that in respect to one law book valued $174,498 purchased on March 18, 2015, it was received by the permanent secretary on June 2, 2016 and was placed in the library.