COMMISSIONER-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Mr. Khurshid Sattaur, is maintaining that there is no plot afoot to destroy the Kaieteur News, as is being peddled by the local daily; that rather the impending audit of the company’s operations is based on legitimate discoveries of tax infractions.
According to Mr Sattaur, the paper is attempting to deflect from the real issue, which is an investigation into its operations, by claiming that there is a plot to silence it. .
Weighing in on the matter over the weekend was President of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), Mr. Ramesh Dookhoo, and his contention is that the execution of the mandate of a body, such as the GRA, ought not to be interfered with.
“In any country, the functions of bodies like the GRA are sacred, and no one should interfere with the Commissioner-General’s execution of his duties,” Dookhoo told the Guyana Chronicle.
The CAIC President’s comment comes in the wake of the brouhaha related to the impeding audit of the Kaieteur News, the allegations of tax evasion by its publisher, Mr. Glenn Lall, and allegations of Lall’s involvement in a remigrant duty-free scam, for which six criminal charges have altogether been filed.