FORMER Minister Dr Jenifer Westford and two senior government officials were this past week implicated in the questionable transfer of State Assets to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, including a still to be accounted for high-end luxury vehicle.

The two government officials from the Ministry of Public Service – since subsumed into the Ministry of Social Cohesion – are its personal officers, Margaret Cummings and Yohan Taylor, who have since been sent on leave and the police called in to launch an investigation.

Cummings and Taylor’s signatures were reportedly emblazoned on a number of pieces of documentation seeking to facilitate the transferal of the vehicles.

The Chronicle understands the suspicious transactions were flagged by Permanent Secretary, Hydar Ally, who reported it to the new administration.

This publication has since seen copies of a letter, bearing the signature ‘Margaret Cummings’ in place of, or, on behalf of Permanent Secretary Hydar Ally, dated April 14, 2015 and addressed to the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Khurshid Sattaur, requesting the change of registrations of eight State owned vehicles, to a number of individuals including the then Minister Dr. Westford.
Others named for the vehicles’ registration to be transferred to their names include, Wayne Walker, Delroy Lewis, Gary Beaton, and Osbert.
The copy of the letter seen by the Chronicle bears a stamp acknowledging receipt by the GRA Commissioner General Secretariat at 14:00hrs on May 18 last, eight days after the General and Regional Elections.
Commissioner General Sattaur, when contacted by the Chronicle last evening, said it would be unfair of him to comment on a purported document he has not seen.
He was at the time asked what, if any, action was taken by GRA since its receipt.
Commissioner General Sattaur denied having seen such a request and as such refused to comment on the matter. He did indicate that such transfers as intimated are not an unusual occurrence in government entities, adding “it depends on the circumstances.”
The Chronicle has however, also seen copies of a letter purportedly inked by Sattaur and directed to Ally, in reference to the request for transfers since the vehicles once owned by the ministry were reportedly sold.
Sattaur, in the letter seen by the Chronicle, dated June 10, 2015 in response to the April 14, 2015 request, advised the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary to reissue the request, since GRA “has the policy of not granting requests for transfers occurring before the new Government took office, unless a letter is issued during the current administration.”
Permanent Secretary Hydar Ally has also since denied any involvement in the suspect transfer of the state assets.
In fact, Ally claims to have had no knowledge of the transaction when contacted by the Chronicle.

Ally indicated that since it was a Police matter he did not want to elaborate much on the details but that it emerged as a result of a general inventory at the Ministry following the just concluded elections.
During a brief interview with the Chronicle last evening, Ally said following the elections, he requested that an inventory be conducted, not just on vehicles but across the institution.
He said, what was returned to him, in his words “was not adequate,” and as such he probed further. Ally told the Chronicle he noticed a number of vehicles were unaccounted for.
Some of the vehicles he said were noticeably absent from the Ministry’s compound, and not a part of the fleet, according to the Permanent Secretary.
Ally recalled that during his checks for the vehicles, checks were also made with GRA, since according to him, that agency would be in possession of the corresponding registration documentation.
Ally said he was subsequently contacted by GRA, when he learnt of the request for the transfers of registration, something which he said “I was totally unaware of.”
Cummings, one of the Government officials sent on leave was the Minister Westford’s Chief Personal Officer and was responsible for the management of the ministry’s fleet of vehicles.
Taylor, the other employee implicated in the investigation, also worked in the Administrative arm of the Ministry.
According to the Permanent Secretary, when he learnt of the transactions he reported his findings to the Minister of State, Lieutenant Colonel (rtd) Joseph Harmon, who has since ordered that the two implicated government employees be sent on leaving pending an investigation.
The Guyana Police Force has since launched an investigation into the matter.
In documentation seen by the Chronicle, the Permanent Secretary replied to the GRA Commissioner General indicating that the request for the transfer of vehicles to the former Minister and other named individuals be halted since, “to the best of my knowledge no documentation relative to the sale of the said vehicles has been seen.”
The Permanent Secretary’s response to Sattaur was also copied to Minister Harmon and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Presidency, Omar Sharief.
This publication was told that the Former Minster has since been requested to provide assistance in locating the vehicles belonging to the Public Service Minister and those loaned to the Ministry by the Ministry of the Presidency.
Dr Westford, the former PPP/C Public Service Minister was also asked to provide assistance “to locate a vehicle purchased from Rudisa Motor Company (Guyana) Inc for the sum of nine million dollars ($9,000,000).”
That vehicle, according to the Public Service Ministry’s records, was purchased in July 2013, a brand new Kia Sorento, for the Minister’s use.
By Gary Eleazar