THE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), on Wednesday, instituted 10 charges against Ramps Logistics Guyana Inc. following the conclusion of recent investigations.

GRA in a press release said that following recently-completed investigations carried out by the Law Enforcement and Investigations Division of GRA, 10 charges have been instituted at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court against the company.

The charges are said to be in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Act Chapter 82:01.

According to GRA, the investigations revealed that during the period of 2021 to 2022, the company made several untrue declarations to the GRA.

The release said that GRA, as it continues to operate within its mandate to allow for a levelled playing field for legitimate businesses and the collection of revenue, is encouraging individuals and businesses involved in any illicit activities to cease and desist from flouting the laws.

The authority further urged these businesses to bring their operations into compliance with Guyana’s tax, trade and border laws. The specifics of the case have not been made public.

In June, Guyana Chronicle reported that RAMPS Logistics Guyana Inc., with parent company in Trinidad and Tobago, had been denied a local content certificate.

The declaration was made then by the company’s Chairman, Shaun Rampersad during a press conference at the local subsidiary’s New Market Street, Georgetown headquarters.

The company, which was incorporated in 2013 in Guyana, is parented by RAMPS Logistics Limited out of Trinidad and Tobago. It was reported earlier this year that some 51 per cent of the local company was sold to Trinidadian businessman, Deepak Lall, who, Rampersad had said, has Guyanese parentage.

The sale of majority shares of the local logistics company came just after Guyana’s Parliament enacted its updated local content rules which are set to protect the interest of Guyanese and Guyanese companies in the growing local oil and gas sector.

Rampersad, speaking to reporters at the time, said he was of the view that the company complied with specifics of the local content legislation. He had said too that the company felt that it went about the processes in the right way.

Following the passing of the local content law, RAMPS reportedly sold 51 per cent of the company’s shares to Lall who, Rampersad said, paid GY$210 million.

The goal, Rampersad had noted, was to include someone from the Guyanese diaspora. Lall reportedly received his Guyanese passport in 2021.