THE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) reported yesterday the disappearance of approximately $6M worth of foreign liquor from its Eccles warehouse and police investigations are underway. This discovery was made by officers of the agency’s Law Enforcement and Investigation Division (LEID) during a routine inventory exercise, which led to the immediate launching of an investigation on May 13, the GRA said in a press release.
After surveillance video footage was reviewed, it was revealed that “officers of the security firm contracted to provide twenty-four hours security to the said warehouse were very much involved in the reprehensible act,” the release stated
In light of this the GRA has since provided copies of the recording to the management of the private security firm and has indicated to them that they are being held culpable.
Additionally, the matter has been reported to the Guyana Police Force for further investigation and the subsequent institution of criminal charges.
Meanwhile, Commissioner General of the GRA, Mr. Khurshid Sattaur has assured that the agency will spare no effort in having the perpetrators brought to justice.
He noted that the GRA had previously installed a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) monitoring system to safeguard against such incidents and this had significantly aided the investigation.
From all indications, this incident was orchestrated utilising the cloak of darkness in an effort to avoid detection of the activity and the identification of the perpetrators. Preliminary investigations have revealed that no current employee of the GRA is involved in this incident. As a result, the GRA is urging members of the public, including members of the media, to avoid speculations at this point.
As investigations continue, additional information will be provided as it becomes available, the GRA release added.