FORENSIC auditors have recommended that investigations into the 2012 Curacao gold heist be re-activated here. Based on their findings, local authorities had lazily pursued the multi-million-dollar heist.Following their inspection of the books of the Guyana Gold Board (GGB), the forensic auditors made the foregoing recommendation, and added that regional and international assistance should be procured in new investigations into the heist.
Done by accounting firm Ram & McRae, the forensic audit was completed in March this year, and was forwarded to Finance Minister Winston Jordan for his perusal.

On November 30, 2012, the Guyana-registered boat ‘Summer Bliss’ was attacked by gunmen shortly after it moored on the Dutch-speaking island of Curacao, and 476 pounds of gold were carted off from the vessel. Authorities on the island suspected that the metal had been smuggled, but, years later, the case remains unsolved.

According to the auditors, a team from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) had visited Curacao during the month following the attack after reports persisted that the gold may have originated from Guyana. According to the auditors, the Curacao authorities reported receiving electronic documentation from the authorities here on the intended shipment of gold.

Investigators in Guyana determined that the vessel was registered at Port Georgetown as a cargo vessel in the name of Deosarran Shivpaul, whose address was Lot 23, Tenze Firme, Canal #1, West Bank Demerara. However, police were unable to trace this person at the address, after investigators found it was an empty plot of land.

According to the auditors, then Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud, had received a report following the visit of the two GGMC officials to the Dutch-speaking island. However, the audit team noted in its findings that the secretary of the GGB reported that no evidence exists that Persaud even received the report.

In that report, the two GGMC officials had pointed to their report being inconclusive, but they observed weaknesses in the maritime system and recommended closer collaboration among the relevant agencies.

And as if to complicate matters, the Curacao authorities had informed that they would provide relevant information on the matter only if a request were made by local public prosecutors to their counterparts on that island.

In November 2015, the auditors did not receive any response from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Georgetown to decipher whether the matter was in their hands.

“…and it appears that recommended actions were not pursued, reducing the chances of identifying and prosecuting the shipper”, the auditors noted.

The auditors are reportedly of the opinion that the occasion had provided opportunity for the Gold Board and the police to carry out visits to the business places of the larger gold dealers in Guyana. “We are surprised that this was not done by any of the regulatory or enforcement agencies”, the auditors went on to say.

The auditors noted that further pursuit of the issue would bring the matter to a conclusion, ascertain how it was perpetrated, as well as punish the wrongdoers and put safeguards in place to avoid any recurrence.

On November 30, 2012, several gunmen disguised as police officers raided the Summer Bliss, a fishing vessel moored at the port in Willemstad, Curacao.
The heist appeared well-planned, since the gunmen, using three cars to escape, beat the Guyanese captain and held his three countrymen at bay with guns, before making good their escape.