PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali, on Monday, confirmed that he has enlisted the support from the Caribbean’s Regional Security System (RSS) to assess the investigation into the murder of Ricardo Fagundes also known as ‘Paper Shorts’.

Speaking with reporters on the sideline of an event in Wakenaam, Region Three, the President said the RSS was engaged to bring an added level of independence to the investigation.
“It’s about independence. I’ve always said we are governing with transparency. So questions arise on the investigation and I reached out to RSS and we’ve asked them to send support to assess and evaluate what is taking place so far in the investigation and to give us their opinion. That is what they’re doing,” the President explained.

The RSS was created in 1982 out of a need for a collective response to security threats impacting the stability of the region in the late 70s and 80s. It focuses on the defence and security of the Eastern Caribbean region.

“I hope they are here as we speak because we have definitely communicated our eagerness to have this completed because I just want to push forward and deal with these challenges quickly and move the country forward,” the President said.

Last Friday, Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo said that President Ali was seeking external support in investigating the allegations made by Police Sergeant, Dion Bascom about Fagundes’ murder.

A popular gold dealer and biker, Fagundes, 42, was gunned down on Main Street, Georgetown, on March 21. Fagundes, who was a close associate of convicted drug dealer Roger Khan, was shot more than a dozen times.

Since August 11, Bascom, in series of social media videos and statements, has accused a local businessman, one of his security personnel and a senior police officer of having a hand in disrupting the investigations into Fagundes’ murder probe.

Bascom’s allegations were made following his arrest days earlier during a Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) raid of a home in Norton Street, Georgetown. Bascom claimed that he believed his detention had to do with his work on the murder investigation.

Gold dealer Azruddin Mohammed, security personnel Mark Richmond and Superintendent of Police Mitchell Caesar have all since written to Bascom about initiating legal proceedings against him for defamatory statements, while the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has since discredited several of the allegations made by Bascom.

The police, in a statement last Friday, said it is being assisted by an internationally recognised law enforcement agency in conducting the Ricardo Fagundes murder probe and that several foreign experts/investigators also visited CID HQ and have since provided assistance to local police.

Items recovered from the crime scene were also sent overseas for analysis and the GPF noted that it is still awaiting the results of that analysis to continue its investigations.