…in wake of audit findings

A SHAKE-UP at the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) headed by former GDF officer Sydney James, is imminent, following the findings of a police audit of the financial records which Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, has described as “damning.”

The audit was ordered by Commissioner of Police Leslie James who was quoted in a previous report as saying, “I have caused an investigation to be done, because there were some complaints of some issues there. There are allegations of misuse of funds, allegations, and therefore, to be professional, SOCU comes under the commissioner of police and I did cause an investigation to be done.”

On Friday, Minister Ramjattan noted at an Alliance For Change (AFC) press conference that, “The commissioner is the head of SOCU as you know. I have seen the report, it is not a very nice report and the commissioner has told me that he is going to take action. Operational matters a minister must not indulge in and that is an operational matter.

“I am hoping that it will be action taken very early. Certainly [there] will have to be shifting around, probably some terminations too. I don’t know what his [commissioner] decision will be, but that is going to be the commissioner’s decision,” he added.

The audit has reportedly uncovered serious irregularities, including the falsification of records.

The police commissioner had had cause to summon the SOCU head to a meeting, to discuss issues including mismanagement of operational funds at the agency, after it came under public scrutiny; this was after the firing of then adviser Dr Sam Sittlington and the resignation of another senior official.

According to an earlier report by this publication, the problems at SOCU have been long-standing, and it was reported that Sittlington had observed issues pertaining to mismanagement at the agency and those issues were raised with the head of SOCU.

It was also reported that Sittlington had encountered resistance at a very high level within SOCU when he first joined the agency, but given government’s determination to have the programme of the agency remain functional, such resistance had to be quelled.

Among the more notable issues which recently made its way into the public domain, was the resignation of Sheronie James, the former deputy head of SOCU, who resigned amid concerns about her credentials. Ms James was hired by SOCU on the basis of

documentation she had reportedly presented, indicating that she was an ACCA affiliate; it was subsequently discovered that the certification she had proferred belonged to another person who lives in Ghana and who bears the same name.