…allegedly pays self $4.5M in gratuity, waives $7M in outstanding fees

THE police have been called in to investigate allegations of corruption against the Registrar of Deeds on reports that she unlawfully paid herself gratuity amounting to $4.5M and also waived outstanding fees due to the registries in the sum of over $7M.
In a release, the Ministry of Legal Affairs said on Tuesday that staff of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority (DCRA) had called upon it to investigate complaints of alleged financial improprieties committed by acting Registrar of Deeds, Ms. Azeena Baksh.

The ministry said it has referred the complaints to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) through Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum. According to the ministry, both the Human Resource and Accounting Departments have complained that as Head of the Budget Agency and sole person in authority to approve and sign off the payroll of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority and one of the main signatories of the Authority’s bank account, the acting Registrar allegedly unlawfully paid herself gratuity, well knowing she was a pensionable employee, having been appointed by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC).
“Registrar Baksh further allegedly unlawfully paid herself a higher salary than was approved by the JSC,” the ministry stated, adding that the Deeds Registry officers have disclosed that these payments started since 2014 and continued up to the present and amount to nearly $4.5M.

Moreover, according to the ministry, the Deeds Registry has also laid over with the Ministry of Legal Affairs documents revealing that Registrar Baksh out of revenue due, owing and payable to the Authority in or around the sum of $8,544,000, allegedly unlawfully waived the sum of $7,044,000 upon the request of an attorney-at-Law, who paid the sum of only $1.5M.
Baksh was appointed by the Judicial Service Commission in July 2012. At the time of her appointment, it was noted that she holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Guyana and also completed the Certificate of Legal Education (LEC) at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and held several positions at various agencies, including at the Ministries of Legal Affairs and Human Services and Social Security.

A forensic audit done by D. Bahadur and Company on the Deeds and Commercial Registries, had recommended among other things that the policy of recording revenue on an accrual basis should be changed to a cash basis, which is in support of the current recording method, noting that bank reconciliations should be prepared and reviewed monthly. The audit report pointed out that there was a Demerara Bank account in the name of the Deeds and Commercial Registries. However, the funds do not belong to the Registries, the account is an Escrow Account established as a result of court order #173-CD. “Based on confirmation received from Demerara Bank Ltd and credit advices seen, Bosai Mineral Group Guyana Inc. was depositing both interest and principal loan repayments as per the court order and debenture. The balance on this US$ a/c suggests that the loan has since been repaid, due to there being no further deposits to the A/c.”

According to the forensic audit, there is no evidence of any reconciliation being done, neither any monitoring of the account. It was therefore recommended that the Escrow Account be reconciled and monitored on an ongoing basis. It is recommended that this matter be brought to the attention of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, since it also involves CLICO. “The Ministries of Finance and Legal Affairs should be informed of the following for their action in relation to the Escrow Account and Act of Deposit Account: The conditions under which these accounts operate; the balance on the accounts as at the date of the forensic audit; the steps taken by the Deeds to effect a reconciliation of the Act of Deposit Account with the aid of available bank statements and court orders; the results of this exercise; and the unresolved balance on the account; and advise on how to deal with the balance within the legal framework.”

Additionally, the auditor had recommended that the vacancy for an internal auditor be filled immediately to address many of the matters affecting the DCRA, including the missing receipt book that saw a former cashier, Kayren Booker, being fired for fraud. Additionally, there was a vacancy for a Registrar of Commerce. Currently, Registrar of Deeds Azeena Baksh holds the post of Registrar of Commerce, but the auditor believes that her dual role can result in “work overload and oversight.” “Additionally, without the appointment of a Registrar of Commerce, various functions of this department can be backlogged; e.g. the registration of trademarks has been significantly delayed, and this may be one of the prime reasons,” the report stated. A number of other key positions, including Assistant Registrar of Commerce, Field Auditor, Audit Clerk and Stores Clerk have to be filled to reduce inefficiency at the DCRA.