AS police continue their investigations into the recent disappearance of a quantity of foreign alcohol at the Eccles Warehouse, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) wishes to reiterate its call for persons not to pre-empt or stymie the process with unnecessary speculation at this point.“Unfortunately such careless rhetoric has already been noted,” the GRA said in a statement while pointing out that the Professional Guard Services (PGS) – while commenting on the matter in a letter to the press on June 3, 2015, appears to be certain that a GRA employee was involved.
The GRA said it views this claim “damning and irresponsible” and based solely on hearsay. It is the Authority’s view that Mr. Dougal Kirkpatrick, the Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of PGS, who penned the letter, should know better than to draw hasty conclusions before the relevant authorities conclude their investigation and to irresponsibly publish the name of senior officers of its Law Enforcement and Investigation Division (LEID) who are involved in the investigation process.
The Authority said it is not denying that there was a GRA accomplice (or accomplices) involved but with no substantial evidence at present, it would be “unethical to name and blame”. This is why the GRA said it was deliberate in its initial decision not to disclose the name of the private security firm when the issue was first reported.
“What remains certain is that there was a serious breach in security protocol at the Warehouse and as a result distrust has been created,” the GRA stated.
GRA’s Commissioner General, Mr. Khurshid Sattaur emphasised that maintaining the integrity of the GRA will continue to be his primary concern. However, he is concerned that such thoughtless actions continue to jeopardise investigations which are in progress.
The Internal Audit Division of the GRA has since embarked on a comprehensive audit of the warehouse to determine whether other thefts may have occurred and to ascertain possible weaknesses in the system of internal control that could have contributed to and prevented such occurrences.