THE case alleging tax fraud against Kaieteur News publisher, Mohan “Glenn” Lall, and three others, is expected to be withdrawn today, given that a settlement has been reached. 

Sources close to the matter confirmed that a settlement has been agreed , but noted that the agreement is a “confidential” one, since it involves personal tax information.

The matter is expected to come up in the Magistrates Court today, at which point it is expected that representatives of the defence, as well as the prosecution, will make clear their agreement to have the matter withdrawn.
Lall, his wife, Bhena Lall, and the Brijnanans were all fingered in an alleged remigrant duty-free scam. The four were slapped with six charges altogether, to which they pleaded not guilty.The Lalls were arraigned last October, while Narootandeo Brijnanan and his wife, Gharbassi Brijnanan, were charged last month. All four were released on their own recognisance
The Brijnanans were represented by Attorney-at-Law Robin Hunte. He is part of the legal team representing Lall and his wife. The defence was represented by other high- profile lawyers, some of whom are also prominent politicians. In addition to Hunte, the list of lawyers includes Khemraj Ramjattan, Senior Counsel Rex McKay, Nigel Hughes, Christopher Ram, Joseph Harmon, Brendan Glassford and Bettina Glasford.
Representing the prosecution are attorneys-at-law Sandil Kissoon and Mahendra Satram.
The filing of the charges followed disclosure of details of the alleged duty-free scam, which were first made public by the Guyana Chronicle after a close examination of the Government of Guyana’s review of the Remigrant Scheme.
Under the remigrant programme, Guyanese who have resided overseas for more than five years and are returning home to reside are entitled to a number of benefits, among which are import duty waivers for vehicles, and tax exemptions for household items, once the items at reference were owned for six months or more in the country where the remigrant was living.
It was alleged that the Brijnanans utilised this concession and imported two high-end luxury vehicles, which were solely used by the Lalls. An investigation was launched in the matter to ensure that procedures and policy, as well as the provisions of the law, were adhered to. The criminal charges stemmed from that investigation.
INVESTIGATIONS ONGOING
Meanwhile, an holistic investigation into Guyana’s remigrant scheme continues.
In a prior interview with this newspaper, Auditor-General Deodat Sharma told the Guyana Chronicle that his office expects to wrap up their investigations by the end of February.
Initially, the investigation was expected to have been completed by the end of last month. However, Sharma noted that given the scope of work, additional information is needed.
“GRA, because of the fact they have shifted offices, has been somewhat slow in getting the necessary paperwork to us. Remember too that in some cases we have to go as far back as 2010,” he said.
Sharma told this newspaper that more than 20 persons are under review.
To date, Sharma has forwarded two reports to the Board of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), through which the Authority requested an investigation.
While he declined to comment on the findings of the reports, the Auditor General disclosed that two major issues that the reports highlighted were the falsification of documents and whether or not the persons applying for the benefits offered to remigrants, actually qualify as remigrants.
“There are a few other contentions that the report has addressed, but the details of those I cannot disclose,” Sharma added.
He did, however, indicate that the findings of his reports will be addressed in his year-end report as Auditor General, which is usually submitted to the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and subsequently made public.
Asked about the move forward after all his reports have been completed and sent to GRA’s Board, Sharma explained that from there it would be for the Authority to take the requisite action.
“We should expect movement on the matter soon,” the Auditor-General said.