— Luncheon says on NIS charges
HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, yesterday dismissed as “nonsense” continuing calls by leaders of some opposition parties for an investigation into investments by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).

As he did last month, he maintained that published annual audited statements on the NIS address concerns being raised by Mr. Robert Corbin, Opposition and People’s National Congress Reform leader, and Mr. Raphael Trotman, leader of the small Alliance For Change party.

The reported charges about the state of the NIS were linked to investments of some $30M by the scheme in the Trinidad-based CL Financial (CLICO) group which has been hit by the global financial meltdown.

Luncheon, also Chairman of the NIS board, last month charged that the NIS allegations are part of the machinations by those who try to deceive, distort and use these opportunities to create an image for themselves.

He yesterday said some in the opposition camp are putting out “nonsense” in the media, adding “if the annual statements do not address their concerns about investments by NIS then I don’t know what is going to address their concerns.”

He said audited NIS statements are available for up to 2007 and the calls for an investigation into the scheme are “just another gimmick by those gentlemen”.

“…there is abundant information in the public domain…audited financial statements by reputable accounting and auditing firms – all of them are there and when I saw the piece about criminal investigation into the NIS, I smiled”, he told his weekly post-Cabinet press.

He argued that this is a “most unworthy sort of development” in the face of information available in the public domain.

Luncheon explained that the prudential investment framework of the NIS reflects Cabinet consideration, noting that it was presented to Cabinet, was “baptised” there and implemented faithfully by the NIS Board.

He also pointed out that the investment sub-committee, including private sector and government representatives and other members of the board who are versed in financial, auditing and accounting matters, sit and develop the recommendations for the board’s consideration.

“In the context of the law, we must get the approval of the Ministry of Finance…the law that governs the NIS and particularly its investments outside of government paper, states that this has to be approved by the Minister of Finance”, he told reporters.

“I don’t think these men are unaware of these realities”, he said, declaring that it is “totally ridiculous” for critics to be “mouthing off and talking trash” and alleging that he and his friends were handling NIS investments.

He said the measures in place enforce accountability at the NIS. “We have a plan that we didn’t devise, to which we report and the auditors pronounce on the fidelity with which we subscribe to the prudential investment framework…we have good, learned, knowledgeable people in this area sitting on the sub-committee and at the end, we do have to go to the Ministry of Finance for approval…”

Luncheon also indicated that there was far greater need for a criminal investigation into the shenanigans that led to the bankruptcy of Globe Trust and Investment Company Limited (GTICL) in 2001.

The Bank of Guyana found that GTICL had breached several regulations of the Financial Institutions Act (FIA), including insufficient provisions for non-performing loans and making unsecured loans to persons related to its employees.

This jeopardised some $235M in savings from small and other depositors and the High Court ordered that Globe Trust be liquidated.

Noting that Commissioner of Insurance, Maria van Beek, the Judicial Manager in the CLICO (Guyana) case that includes the contentious NIS investment, will be reporting on her findings and recommendations, Luncheon wondered why opposition leaders, in the face of unanimous support of a parliamentary motion that they introduced on the issue, have suddenly woken up and determined that there is need for a criminal investigation into the matter.

“…it begs the question (of) how come they were not thinking about criminal investigation at the time of Globe Trust”, he offered.

Luncheon declared that the nexus with those who are calling for criminal investigation and the shenanigans that went on with Globe Trust “is one that is obvious, but I suppose that these are some of the temptations that have been very difficult for those colleagues to avoid and respond to as they carry on their politicking”.

“…once there’s uncertainty – not the kind of uncertainty when you have annual reports, audited financial statements…when it’s real uncertainty, I think we would have a lot of support, there would be tremendous merit in trying to go down that road to…find out what indeed happened (with Globe Trust)…and in that context, we should have lots of investigations, not only Globe Trust”, Luncheon said