OFFICERS from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), armed with a ‘Writ of Assistance’ attempted yesterday to seize one of the two vehicles, PRR 8398, implicated in an alleged duty-free concession scam, involving the publisher of the Kaieteur News, Mr. Glen Lall.

However, up to 23:00 hrs last night the officials, accompanied by several police ranks, remained in waiting outside Lot 8 Continental Park, East Bank Demerara, the address listed on the registration forms for both of the vehicles, the other vehicle being PRR 8399.
Lot 8, Continental Park is also the address of a senior functionary at the GRA, Navin Sankar. When the Guyana Chronicle arrived on the scene, Sankar was in conversation with two GRA officials, but subsequently left and entered his home.
The police ranks and GRA officials remained outside his home.
Some hours later, Sankar told this newspaper that he produced the relevant documentation for the vehicle parked at his home and unless a court order is produced he will not accede to the GRA’s request.
Sankar maintained that no laws were broken and contended that he is being targeted because of his friendship with Mr. Lall.
“The vehicles are registered in my parents name and even if Mr. Lall uses the vehicle, no law is broken,” he said.

THREATENED
Asked to comment on the incident, Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Khurshid Sattaur, told the Guyana Chronicle that he finds it strange that Sankar, an officer with over two decades of experience with the GRA, would defend Mr. Lall, who is at the centre of an alleged tax evasion case.
He confirmed that he instructed his officers to take action and explained that a final pronouncement on the issue can only be made by the GRA, which is the reason action was recommended.
Less than an hour after the Guyana Chronicle received this confirmation from Mr. Sattaur, he disclosed that he received a telephone call from a person “whose voice I recognised as Mr. Glen Lall” and was threatened.
“He said you want fire. I will expose you…he said, you are not Mr. Sattaur, you are Sattaur the thief,” the Commissioner-General complained.
According to him, such actions, the making of threats, are unconscionable.
“I am not acting vindictively. I am doing my work. Mr. Lall is not excluded from paying taxes, he said.
Earlier this week, Mr. Sattaur confirmed that the Authority would be taking action to investigate the matter.
He explained that the reason he did not act sooner on the matter of the alleged duty-free concession scam involving the publisher of the Kaieteur News, was because he was waiting on a report from the Auditor- General.
Sattaur said: “This matter was referred to the Auditor-General when he requested documents from us to conduct his audit. I thought his findings would have come out sooner, and I did not want to preempt his report on the findings.”
The Commissioner-General also admitted that in any other case, the vehicles that are the subject of contention would have already been seized and impounded.
However, given the “presumed involvement” of a prominent figure in society, he chose to “tread cautiously” rather than act in haste and be accused of being “politically-directed” to act.
“It has happened before; there is always the suggestion out there, and people will use all kinds of stories about me being subject to political directives. This is always the case when you act in these matters,” Sattaur said.
He said that given that the details of the alleged duty-free concession scam have been made public by the Guyana Chronicle, it is only natural that the public will expect his office to act, lest it be accused of having double standards.

MADE PUBLIC
The Guyana Chronicle was able to obtain copies of all the relevant documents — from the application to the approval by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, GRA, and shipping information.
Information found on the GRA License Revenue Processing System (GRA -LRPS) form indicates that the licence plate numbers for the two vehicles are PRR 8398 and PRR 8399, which are driven by Lall and his wife, Bhena (owner of Bhena’s Footwear).
PRR 8398 is usually prominently parked in front of the Kaieteur News head office on Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, and PRR 8399 is often seen on Regent Street, Georgetown near Bhena’s Footwear.
The details of the alleged duty-free concession scam were made public following a look by the Guyana Chronicle at the Government of Guyana’s review of the Remigrant Scheme.
Information received indicates that this issue started with husband and wife Narootandeo and Gharbassi Brijnanan, who were on July 3, 2013 granted permission by the Foreign Affairs Ministry to return to Guyana as “remigrants”, along with the concomitant incentives of the scheme.
Under the remigrant programme, Guyanese who would have resided overseas for more than five years and are returning home to reside are entitled to a number of benefits. These benefits include an import duty-free waiver for vehicles, and tax exemption for household items, once the items at reference were owned for six months or more in the country where the remigrant was living.
As husband and wife, Narootandeo and Gharbassi Brijnanan were entitled to concessions as two separate individuals, although a joint application was submitted.
The duty-free concession is awarded on condition that “the motor vehicle cannot be leased or transferred within three years of registration, and providing that the registration licence, fitness and registration and insurance are submitted for inspection at the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) every six months,” according to a letter issued to the applicant.
The Brijananans, on their application form, indicated that besides household items, they were returning with two 2013 Lexus Suburban L57 vehicles, the chassis numbers of which were listed along with other required information.
On the application form, the chassis numbers for the vehicles were listed as JTJHY7AX7D4100270 and JTJHY7AX6D4094851 with the registration dates in the State of New York being September 25, 2012 and March 3, 2013 correspondingly.
However, on the Bill of Lading for the vehicles, the chassis numbers were listed as JTJHY7AX6D4096745 and JTJHY7AX6D4094851, respectively. This clearly indicates that one of the numbers did not correspond with the chassis number on the application.
Further, for the vehicle bearing chassis number JTJHY7AX6D4094851, it was noticed that the date on the New York-issued Certificate of Title was March 3, 2013. This could only mean that the vehicle was not owned for more than six months before the application was made by the Brijnanans.
If true, this would be a clear violation of the regulation surrounding the application for remigrant status and duty-free concession. In essence, what would have occurred, according to documents perused by the Guyana Chronicle, is that the Brijnanans successfully obtained import duty concession in the sum of $4.222, 223.55 for each vehicle, totalling in excess of $8M.

UNAWARE
When contacted by the Guyana Chronicle, Brijnanan said he was unaware of the discrepancies on his application and the Bill of Lading for the vehicles, thereby denying that he was involved in any scam.
He stated that he’d applied for Remigrant Status some five years ago, and has been in the country since then. However, the letter from GRA to the Brijnanans is dated July 8, 2013. Further, the receipt attached to the Bill of Lading is dated September 20, 2013.
When questioned about the conflicting chassis numbers listed on his application and his Bill of Lading, Brijnanan said he could not explain the discrepancy. “I can’t understand; it is supposed to be the same thing that came,” he said.
Meanwhile, this newspaper’s research into the source price for a Lexus L570 is about US$80,000. Import duty for such a vehicle would be a total of US$94,500, bringing the total value of the vehicle to US$174,500, or more than G$36M for each of the vehicles imported by the Brijnanans.
It appears, therefore, that the Government was cheated out of a total of US$189,000 (US$94,500 times 2), or almost $40M in import duty for the two vehicles which Lall and his wife are driving.