–if you live in a glass house

I HAVE come to the realization that the world we are living in is riddled with hypocrisy and double-standards; and in the context of Guyana, this is no different.I read with great amazement the Chronicle article dated August 25, 2014 and captioned “local publisher at centre of duty-free concession scam”, and was taken aback that the publisher to which they made reference was Mr. Glenn Lall of the Kaieteur News.

For those of you who didn’t read the article, it implicated the Kaieteur News publisher, Mr. Lall, with being involved in a remigrant waiver scam to cheat the Government out of paying approximately $40M in import duty for two brand new luxury vehicles owned by the Kaieteur News publisher.

This was done with the help of relatives of Mr. Lall, who were remigrants who lived overseas for more than five years and were allowed under the remigrant programme, among other things, the incentives to import their vehicles duty-free.

The relatives imported two new 2013 Lexus LX570 luxury SUVs and transferred them to Mr. Lall. However, in transferring them, they breached a conditionality on the granting of duty-free concessions which stipulates that a motor vehicle cannot be transferred within three years of registration.

Checks done by Chronicle news revealed that the brand new 2013 vehicles were owned for only six months by Mr. Lall’s relatives before they were transferred to him, thereby breaching the conditionality for importing vehicles duty-free.

Reading the article clearly indicated to me that the vehicles were bought by Mr. Lall, and his relatives were used as pawns as he benefited unscrupulously from their remigrant duty-free status.

I was in disbelief when I read the article, since I know this man and, by extension, his paper to be champions of fighting all forms of corruption; yet, the compelling facts laid out before me in the article logically showed beyond a shadow of doubt that, indeed, this so called champion of corruption was engaging in the same corrupt practices that he uses his paper to highlight.

Now, there is an adage that goes: “you shouldn’t throw stones if you live in a glass house,” and I think the meaning is self-explanatory. Suffice it to say that, in this scenario, Kaieteur News is the glass house.

I say this because I recall, years ago, it was Kaieteur News that prominently featured and had on its front burner the seizure of two luxury vehicles (two Jaguars) by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) involved in a scam by a local auto dealer to evade millions of dollars in taxes.

While the two scams (Mr. Lall’s and the local auto dealer’s) are different in their execution, the end results are the same, the evasion of taxes to the GRA and, by extension, the Government.

In fact, Kaieteur News, in an article dated September 14th, 2010, under the caption “Six weeks later, GRA confirms the seizure of luxury cars”, quoted a statement by the GRA which said, inter alia, “It has been the observation of the Revenue Authority that many members of the business community have been utilising every means necessary to avoid paying the necessary duties and taxes on their imports…. This practice has resulted in the state being denied revenues that are due, thereby resulting in hindrances to the overall development of the country.”

Kaieteur News then quoted GRA Commissioner-General, Mr Khurshid Sattaur, as saying that “the agency will not condone such practices. Any evidence of tax evasion will result in the guilty parties being fined and prosecuted.”

Now, how hypocritical is it that the newspaper (Kaieteur News) which published glaringly these acts of corruption (which had led to some of the GRA employees who were involved in the scam being fired and the two luxury vehicles impounded) has at its helm a man who knowingly conspired with his remigrant relatives to defraud the GRA of taxes for luxury vehicles which he has in his possession, and according to the article prominently displays in front of his and his wife’s place of work?

I have long admired the work that Kaieteur News does, but have always been hesitant to believe some of the more outlandish and sensational stories which this newspaper carried. I am now of the firm belief and conviction that this paper was never used as an instrument for fighting corruption, but was more about seeking to serve the vested interests of its publisher, who clearly is not a man of moral fortitude.

REAZ HOLLADAR