Dear Editor,
NOW that commissioners and employees of the Local Government Commission (LGC) have finally been paid, after waiting for over two months for the release of their monies, one can only hope that they will get back energetically to the business of dealing with the most memorable and expensive financial fraud cases of all time in Guyana which occurred at the Georgetown City Council.

Financial fraud the world over is a major crime which often comes with heavy punishment and fines for those involved. Enron, Cendant, and WorldCom are examples of massive companies torn apart by financial fraud and scandal. Other cases include fraudsters trying to sell the Eiffel Tower and the Brooklyn Bridge. But in each of these cases where serious white-collar crimes were committed came heavy punishment and fines instituted against the perpetrators. Those cases have at least one person, but more often than not, there were groups of fraudsters going to prison.

Look at Madoff who is currently serving a sentence of 150-years in federal prison for securities fraud; look at WorldCom whose CEO and CFO went to jail for lying about billions of dollars in yet another case of corporate accounting fraud, or the 15-year-old Barry Minkow who started a carpet cleaning company called ZZZZ Best, and who was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison for 57 counts of fraud and racketeering.

Then there was ‘Count Victor Lustig’, who was no Count, but who used the fake title as one of his many lies to commit among his many famous crimes, convincing people in the scrap-metal industry that he was a part of the French government, and twice sold the Eiffel Tower, which he said had to be torn down.

At the Georgetown Municipality, there was the notorious parking meter deal, the illegal sale of municipal properties and vehicles, the doling out of billions of dollars worth in illegal contracts without adherence to tender board procedures the procurement of goods on a massive scale without a bidding process, the unlawful hiring practices and upward adjustment of salary scales, the shake down of vendors and demands for bribes by their police department, and the illegal waiving of property rates and interest accrued.

Moreso, several senior officers were cited by the Local Government Commission of Inquiry for gross misconduct, abuse of office, recklessness, dishonesty, conspiracy, and misappropriation of funds. Others were cited for complete incompetence, and dereliction of duty.

But guess what?, in spite of these appalling and abysmal findings, the only thing that has resulted so far from what was discovered, was one person had his services terminated who quite outrageously has sought a judicial review of the decision and is seeking to be reinstated. Unbelievable!

What has happened to the long arm of the law? Is our legal system no longer concerned with punishment of individuals who commit crimes? Dismissal alone could not be enough, those who violate the law must face incarceration, fines and other penalties. Moreso stolen assets must be traced and returned to the citizenry.
Regards
Kwasi Sanderson