A TRIAL date is expected to be set on November 13, 2024, by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly for the high-profile case against ExxonMobil (Guyana) and Ramps Logistics (Guyana) over allegations of submitting false declarations to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The accusations, which the companies have vehemently denied, stem from a disputed customs declaration involving oil well equipment. ExxonMobil and Ramps Logistics, both prominent players in Guyana’s burgeoning oil and gas industry, have pleaded not guilty to charges of making an untrue declaration to the GRA, as alleged under Section 217(1) (c) of the Customs Act.
The controversy centres on an invoice submitted to the GRA for oil well equipment, with the value reportedly inflated from US$4.4 million to a staggering US$12.1 billion.

Officials from the companies appeared in court in May and were granted self-bail after being charged with the alleged offence. According to the charge, on November 16, 2023, at the GRA’s Lot 200-201 Camp Street headquarters, they falsely declared a sum of US$12,192,103,923.91 for a shipment of oil well equipment and supplies listed on an invoice dated the same day.
All parties are being represented by attorneys.

The GRA had released a statement pointing out inconsistencies in the customs declarations filed by Ramps Logistics for equipment it brought in for ExxonMobil.
In its statement, GRA stated that, on November 16, 2023, Ramps Logistics had submitted Customs declaration number GY410 2023 C2612 for a shipment of goods on behalf of ExxonMobil.
The declaration indicated the invoice value for the goods as US$12,192,103,923.91. Upon noticing the inflated value, GRA reported initiating a comprehensive investigation.
According to GRA, it was discovered that the actual cost of the imported items was far less than the stated amount of US$12,192,103,923.91, coming in at US$4,467,662.

Moreover, GRA said that the declaration misrepresented Ramps Logistics as the supplier while, in fact, Baker Hughes and Technip FMC were the real providers. Because of this, Ramps Logistics received a summons from GRA on January 23, 2024, asking them to explain why the company should not be held accountable for breaking Section 217 of the Customs Act.

Ramps Logistics responded to the GRA in a letter dated February 5, 2024, claiming that the disclosure was based on data obtained from ExxonMobil through the KABAL System of that business. In order to bolster their claims, Ramps Logistics, according to GRA, also supplied a demonstration showing how the information was taken out of ExxonMobil’s KABAL System.

The GRA also sent a letter to ExxonMobil, demanding that the company explain why legal proceedings should not be initiated against it. In response, ExxonMobil dissociated itself from the false declaration, attributing it to a “clerical error” in a customs declaration made by its former broker, Ramps Logistics. The US oil company clarified, “[We] did not compose the erroneous declaration, nor were we aware of this clerical error when the declaration was filed.”

Ten charges alleging untrue declarations were brought against Ramps Logistics by GRA in 2022. However, Magistrate Dylon Bess dismissed all of those allegations in April 2023.
He upheld the company’s lawyers’ no-case submission in doing so.

Ramps Logistics was also fined $20 million by GRA in 2022 for breaking local customs laws.
According to reports, the business acts as an agent for vessel, Seacor Mixteca.

Ramps Logistics breached the Customs Act by neglecting to record the vessel leaving Guyana, according to GRA. As a result, rather than facing legal action, Ramps Logistics, whose parent business is based in Trinidad and Tobago, chose to pay the hefty fine.