…despite fraud charges
GENERAL Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Nizam Hassan remains on the job despite being charged criminally for fraud.
Hassan was placed before the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on Monday to answer fraud charges, along with several others. The act was allegedly committed at the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (NGMC), the entity which he once headed. Staff on Tuesday reported that Hassan went to work as per normal but left during the afternoon.
Appearing before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on Monday, Hassan and Felicia DeSouza-Madramootoo, a St George’s Secondary School teacher, stood accused of conspiring with others to approve payments for Constantine Engineering and Construction Limited of Trinidad and Tobago for substandard work done on the GMC building, knowing the work done was poor.
DeSouza-Madramootoo’s husband, Hanniel Madramootoo, project engineer within the Ministry of Agriculture, his brother Philip Madramootoo and his friend Nizam Ramkisson, both directors of Constantine Engineering and Construction Limited, have been jointly charged in connection with the same fraud allegation. However, the latter three defendants were not present in court, since they have since fled to Trinidad. This has caused the Chief Magistrate to issue an arrest warrant for their arrest.
The Chief Magistrate released the duo on $250,000 each, and ordered that they each report to the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) headquarters every Friday until the case has been determined. The matter stands adjourned until December 7, since the prosecution file is still incomplete.
Back in May, forensic auditor Saykar Boodhoo, who investigated the operations of the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC), had recommended that the Government fire Madramootoo if he is still in the employ of the Agriculture Ministry. Madramootoo was allegedly involved in acts of fraud. It is alleged that Madramootoo, an engineer, colluded with a contractor to execute a multi-million-dollar fraud on GMC.
Identifying the act as a case of financial impropriety conducted by the GMC, Senior Management, Boodhoo, in his 64-page report, explained that in 2011 a contract was awarded to Constantine Engineering and Construction Services of Trinidad and Tobago to construct a new building for the GMCs Head Office and the Guyana Shop. The contract, in the sum of $23.9M, was reportedly awarded by the National Tender and Procurement Board (NPTAB); however, the auditor was unable to review the bidding documents, due to the lack of evidence.
According to Boodhoo, NPTAB Head, Donald De Clou indicated that there is no evidence suggesting that NPTAB was involved in the tender process, even though the contract indicated otherwise. This particular project was managed by Madramootoo, an engineer attached to the Agriculture Ministry at the time.
By February 2012, the contract sum was amended to include the additional sum of $7.6M without going out to tender. The amendment to the contract also extended the contract duration to March 16, 2016. “Based on discussion with Mr Owen Nestor, GMC’s accountant, shortly after the contract amendment, the contractor announced to GMC that he (would) be unable to complete the construction of the GMC office building. It is unclear exactly how much funds was given to Constantine Engineering.
“As such, another contractor was called in to complete the electrical wiring and relevant works to the GMC Office building,” the auditor explained. The situation further deteriorated. Months after it was handed over to GMC, there were leaks throughout the building via the roof. Another contractor had to be hired to remedy that situation. “It was also discovered that old lumber and old zinc sheets with euroband were used to construct the roof of the building.
The auditor believes the GMC’s Board and senior management are just as culpable as the contractor. He explained that the directors visited the building on numerous occasions during its construction stage, but failed to highlight the “blatant poor quality of work performed by the contractor.”
