THE United States Embassy here has revoked the non-immigrant visas of two prominent members of Parliament of the People’s Progressive Party as well as several other persons who were recently charged with fraud committed on the Guyana Rice Development Board.
In a statement confirming the decision by the embassy, the PPP said Members of Parliament, Dharamkumar Seeraj and Nigel Dharamlall have recently received letters from the Consular Section of the Embassy of the United States of America, Georgetown, Guyana, informing them that their non-immigrant visas have been revoked. The letters, the party said, further states that the Consular Section is now in receipt of information which it did not have at the time the visas were granted.
“Similar letters were received by the other persons who were slapped with fabricated charges in relation to Guyana Rice Development Board. All the persons charged have pleaded not guilty to those charges and therefore, are presumed innocent until proven guilty,” the PPP said in their statement. “They have instructed their attorneys -at-law to write to the Consular Section of the said Embassy requesting the new information which it has received. The PPP will pursue this matter as far as is possible.”
Back in May six former GRDB Board members, including Dharamlall and Seeraj, were placed on $500,000 bail each and asked to lodge their passports after they appeared in court jointly charged by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) for failing to make a proper entry into a register of a company.
They appeared before Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan, and were not required to plead to the indictable offence. They were slapped with five separate charges for alleged fraud totaling over $400M. The charges stemmed from the findings of an audit into the finances of the GRDB. The charges read that the six accused between 2011 to 2015 at Lot 166-177 Cowan Street, Kingston, Georgetown, while being members of the GRDB board, with intent to defraud, omitted and concurred entries into a Republic Bank Agriculture Sector Development Unit life skill account on the general ledger of the corporation.
Those charged were: former GRDB head, Madulall Ricky Ramraj; former General, Manager Jagnarine Singh; former GRDB board members: Dharamkumar Seeraj, Badrie Persaud, PPP Parliamentarian Nigel Dharamlall and former Deputy Permanent Secretary (Finance) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Prema Roopnarine.
The case is being prosecuted by Michael Somersall. He requested that the magistrate institute substantial bail and also for the accused to lodge their passports as part of the bail agreement. Attorneys representing the persons charged include: Anil Nandlall, Priya Manickchand, Sase Gunraj and Glen Hanoman. The case was adjourned to June 22, 2017 for commencement of trial. The attorneys collectively noted that the accused were very cooperative with SOCU on each occasion they were summoned and although the prosecution could not commence their case, it is unreasonable for the court to grant such harsh bail requirements, since they had initially asked for their respective clients to be released on their own recognizance.
In his application, Nandlall said the six persons charged are from a board of 15 former GRDB directors and the question must be asked why only six directors were charged. He said the charges were selective and vindictive. The former attorney general said that the accused were not charged with stealing a single cent. “There is no evidence that these people will be a flight risk,” he said, while noting that the prosecution’s application for substantial bail and lodging of passports was not a needed step to be taken by the court.