THE State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA) is expected to hit the ground running once the legislation governing its operation is passed in the National Assembly.

The National Assembly is expected to pass the State Assets Recovery Bill today, which when assented to by the President will allow for the establishment of SARA – an agency aimed at recovering illicitly obtained state property or any connected benefit derived from the criminal conduct of a public official.

Chief Executive Officer of the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), Aubrey Retmeyer on Wednesday told reporters that SARA will be using some of the findings of the forensic audit reports conducted under the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Administration to establish a number of cases in the High Court.

“We have information that points to a number of individuals and some of them are clearly in those audit reports that were conducted shortly after the change of administration. Some of those cases will certainly lend to asset recovery,” Retmeyer said.

Forensic audits were conducted into the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), the National Communications Network (NCN), the Guyana Oil Company (GUYOIL), and Atlantic Hotels Inc/Guyana Marriott Hotel, among others.

Retmeyer noted that while many countries address the issue of corruption by simply dealing with the corrupted officials, Guyana will be placing added attention on recovery of state assets in the interest of development.

According to him, for far too long the country has been losing vast sums of monies. Procurement fraud, he posited accounts for $28-$38B, while illicit capital flight totals $90B annually. The underground economy, he added accounts for approximately $188B.

“Now this magnitude of loss for any state like ours could not be sustained,” he stated.

Retmeyer was a part of a team led by the Attorney General (AG) and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams, who addressed reporters on the State Asset Recovery Bill at the AG’s Chamber.

Head of SARU, Dr. Clive Thomas and the unit’s Legal Adviser, Brian Horn were also part of the team.

In light of criticism by the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP), the Attorney General made it clear that the bill allows for civil recovery proceedings and not criminal proceedings.

“No one will be arrested, no one will be charged, no one will be prosecuted… There is nothing criminal about this bill,” he emphasized, while stating clearly that its primary purpose is to recover properties of the State.

Under the bill, only a High Court Judge may make civil recovery order. In making its case in the High Court, SARA will have to prove on a balance of probabilities (the civil standard), that there was unlawful conduct by a public official or other person to the tune of $10M or more.

“So the court is the final determinant,” Minister Williams assured, noting that there is also provisions in the bill for injunctions and appeals to be made.

Dr. Thomas, in making brief remarks, said some people are in the business of making mischief to create the impression that the bill will empower SARU/SARA or the Government to penalise persons for crimes committed.

“The issue of constitutional right to property, we are protecting 100 per cent, but you can’t have a constitutional right to stolen property,” he posited.

Dr. Thomas noted too that the bill is in accordance with UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which states that each State party must “consider taking such measures as may be necessary to allow confiscation of property without a criminal conviction.” Guyana had signed unto the Convention in April 2008.

It was noted too that the bill would have received the strong backing of the Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative, StAR – a joint United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) and World Bank.