– sent ‘to seek further advice’

A WEEK’S adjournment was granted by Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman to Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) prosecutors to seek advice on the 17 charges against two Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) employees.

Former General Manager, Jagnarine Singh and his deputy, Madanlall Ramraj, are jointly charged with 17 counts of omitting to enter true entries of over $4.2 M into the company’s ledger, knowing that it was contrary to standard operation procedures between 2011 and 2012, at the company’s Lot 16-17 Cowan Street, Kingston head office.
On Thursday when the matter was recalled for report, Magistrate Latchman pointed out several issues in the charges to SOCU prosecutors, Hewley Griffith and Lawrence Harris.
She noted that of the 17 charges, four are duplicates of each other, with the same dates and monies involved. The magistrate advised that the prosecutor seek further advise and report back to court on May 23.

Singh and Ramraj are also currently before Magistrate Fabayo Azore on 17 other charges of fraudulently taking $5.1M or using it for their own use and benefit or any use and purpose other than that of the GRDB.

Also before Magistrate Leron Daly for the same matter are General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association (RPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj; former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Nigel Dharamlall; former General Manager of the Guyana Oil Company (GUYOIL), Badrie Persaud; and Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Prema Roopnarine.
They are charged with failing to make a proper entry into the register of a company, with the intent to defraud $362M from the entity’s Republic Bank account.
In May, 2017, the six officials made their first appearance in court and were indictably charged. They were released on $500,000 bail each, with reporting conditions.
The six denied that in 2011, they omitted to enter some $52M in the GRDB ledger; they also denied that they omitted to enter a sum of $77.3M into the said ledger. Other charges read that between the years 2014 and 2015, the sums of $130M, $9.7M and $145M were respectively omitted from the GRDB register.

The accused all pleaded not guilty to this charge as well.

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