Audit probe at SOCU completed
Head of SOCU, Assistant Commissioner of Police Sydney James
Head of SOCU, Assistant Commissioner of Police Sydney James

…Top Cop to receive report this week

HAVING ordered an investigation into allegations of mismanagement at the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Police Commissioner Leslie James on Monday informed that he should be in possession of a report sometime this week.

Head of SOCU, Assistant Commissioner of Police Sydney James, who has also been interviewed during the investigation so far, is still on the job, the police chief confirmed.
“I have caused an investigation to be done because there were some complaints of some issues there. There are allegations of misuse of funds; allegations, and therefore, to be professional, SOCU comes under the Commissioner of Police and I did cause an investigation to be done,” James stated.

The commissioner was at the time speaking with reporters following the opening of a workshop on station management and the training of newly promoted subordinate officers at the Officers’ Training Centre, Camp Road and Young Street, Eve Leary.
James had confirmed, during an interview with this publication, that he had summoned the SOCU head to a meeting to discuss issues at the agency, which have come under public scrutiny since the firing of adviser Dr. Sam Sittlington and the resignation of another senior official.

Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan recently told the Guyana Chronicle that after he received certain information about the developments at SOCU, he asked the Commissioner to look into it, as he did not want to interfere with the operations of the force.

There have been reports that SOCU is facing a number of issues including mismanagement of operational funds at the agency.

The Guyana Chronicle was told by a source that the problems have been long-standing. Another source indicated that Sittlington did observe issues as it relates to mismanagement at the agency and those issues were raised with the head of SOCU.

Information has since surfaced that Sittlington faced resistance at a very high level within SOCU when he was first brought to the agency, but given government’s determination to have the programme of the agency carried on, such resistance had to be quelled.
Based on reports, Sheronie James, the former deputy head of SOCU who recently resigned over concerns about her credentials, was hired by the agency after she provided documentation stating that she was an ACCA affiliate when, in fact, the certificate which she provided belonged to another person who lived in Ghana and who carried an identical name as hers.

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