Why were mining officials present at an EIA scoping exercise?
Posted By Stabroek staff On September 5, 2009 @ 5:02 am In Letters | No Comments
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/09/05/why-were-mining-officials-present-at-an-eia-scoping-exercise/print/
Dear Editor,
We refer to the report in your newspaper captioned, ‘Residents query benefits of Marudi Mt gold mining’ (September 1). It began by pointing out the “limited skills of the residents of South Rupununi,” which we found offensive. Local and indigenous communities across the globe possess a wide variety of skills. We are not sure what measure was used to gauge the skill levels of the South Rupununi residents.
However, that was not the major problem with the events as described in your newspaper. Our understanding (probably limited as well) is that this was a public scoping exercise as part of the wider Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. We are therefore confused as to why residents were probed on their opinion of the perceived benefits of the mining project to them and their communities. It would have been ideal (some would say logical) if the opinions of residents as to whether they wanted gold mining in or near their communities would have been garnered prior to the granting of the mining licence.
Secondly, we are a bit concerned that in an EIA, (a process that is supposed to be fair and independent), the mining company executives and officials were present at the scoping exercise. It seemed from your article that it served as a scoping exercise and a public relations event for the mining company. Further confusion surrounds the fact that the EPA (which is supposed to be independent and established to safeguard the interests of the environment and thus local communities, shared a forum with the mining company, whose EIA application it has yet to approve.
This EIA process seems to have been compromised even before it began.
Yours faithfully,
Candice R. Ramessar
Everall Franklin MP
GAP ROAR
Editor’s note
SN simply reported what was discussed at the meeting. The issue of whether members of the local community had the requisite skills to undertake certain jobs in the mining operation was raised by the villagers themselves. It was addressed by Mr Charles Ceres, consultant to the EIA who said there was need for a capacity building programme in the communities.
Skills in this context refers to expertise or know-how acquired as a consequence of training, not to innate abilities.
Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/letters/09/05/why-were-mining-officials-present-at-an-eia-scoping-exercise/
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Stanleytown pump supplier implicated in international fraud
Stanleytown pump supplier implicated in international fraud
September 4, 2009 | By KNews | Filed Under News
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/09/04/stanleytown-pump-supplier-implicated-in-international-fraud/
The following is an article which was published in the March 15, 2002 edition of the St. Petersburg Times, written by Adam C. Smith, Political Editor.
The Justice Department says a water pump company fraudulently helped Nigeria obtain $74-million in taxpayer-backed loans.
Gov. Jeb Bush’s former business partner in a venture to sell water pumps abroad defrauded the U.S. government of more than $74-million, federal authorities contend in a lawsuit.
The Justice Department alleges that MWI Corp. of Deerfield Beach, a water pump company whose equipment Bush marketed to foreign countries, fraudulently helped Nigeria obtain U.S. taxpayer-backed loans during his father’s administration.
Much of the loan money went for secret payoffs to Nigerian officials and equipment that was vastly overpriced and unneeded, the lawsuit says.
The company denies the allegations, many of which surfaced four years ago when a former MWI employee sued the company.
Bush, campaigning for governor at the time, shrugged off questions about the deal as little more than complaints from a disgruntled former staffer.
Now the Justice Department is making many of the same charges.
The pump deals occurred years before Bush became governor, and the lawsuit neither mentions him by name nor accuses him of wrongdoing.
But it suggests MWI used its political influence in the Republican Party to win the U.S. loans, and notes that MWI president J. David Eller went into business with “a member of a prominent national political family in an attempt to bolster MWI’s sales abroad.”
That’s a reference to Jeb Bush.
In 1989, Eller, a major Republican contributor, formed a company with Bush, Bush-El, to market MWI’s industrial water pumps abroad. Bush has described Eller as a “person of integrity.”
Twice while his father was in the White House, Bush visited Nigeria as a water pump representative. He visited Nigerian dignitaries and was showered with attention, including a parade for him in 1989 with 1,300 horses.
Jeb Bush sold his share in Bush-El in 1994, and has said he earned about $648,000 from the company.
He has insisted that he received no money on the Nigerian deals, saying he took no commissions on sales backed by U.S. loans to avoid a potential conflict of interest. He said his earnings came from his work in other countries, including Mexico, Indonesia and Malaysia, but in 1998 declined to detail that work.
“You either trust me or you don’t,” he told the Miami Herald in 1998.
Katie Baur, spokeswoman for the governor, said the governor was unaware of the lawsuit and had not spoken to federal authorities about the case.
“The governor had nothing to do with the … loans that are the subject of this,” Baur said.
The federal lawsuit accuses MWI of guiding the buyer and the Export-Import Bank of the United States into a deal loaded with falsehoods. It went like this, the suit said:
MWI found a well-connected Nigerian agent. By paying various Nigerian authorities in currency and goods, the agent convinced assorted Nigerian officials that they “needed” MWI’s pumps. Then MWI helped Nigeria get U.S. loans for projects with vastly inflated prices. Much of the hidden markups went for illegal payments to Nigerian officials, for huge commissions for MWI’s Nigerian agent, and for equipment overpriced as much as 500 percent.
Nigerian authorities would not have sought the loans for the pumps had they not received generous payments courtesy of MWI, the lawsuit contends.
Nigeria lacks the infrastructure and need for much of the equipment, and today, hundreds of pieces of equipment sold by MWI sit rusting and unused in Nigerian fields, the lawsuit says.
“That’s nonsense,” said MWI attorney William Scherer.
Scherer said that Nigeria continues to buy products from MWI and that the country has paid back the $74-million loaned by the Export-Import Bank, plus some $33-million interest.
“We have done nothing wrong, and the country paid back the money with interest,” Scherer said.
Officials with the Export-Import Bank could not be reached for comment Thursday, but weeks ago confirmed to the St. Petersburg Times that the loans had been paid off.
The Nigerian pump deals became a campaign issue in 1998, after former MWI vice president Robert Purcell (From page 12)
named Bush in a lawsuit against MWI and others. Purcell said he was cheated out of more than $1-million in profits that were diverted to Bush-El and other companies affiliated with Eller. The company denied the allegations, and Purcell’s lawsuit was settled under confidential terms.
Federal court records show that in August 1998 Purcell also filed a federal “whistleblower” lawsuit against MWI, accusing it of defrauding the federal government. That lawsuit remained sealed until recently while federal authorities investigated the charges.
At one point, FBI investigators in the Clinton administration were pursuing a criminal investigation into MWI, but Scherer said that apparently ended because the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution expired.
Still, the investigation continued into the George W. Bush administration.
In January, the U.S. Justice Department decided to intervene in the civil case on Purcell’s behalf. Under the whistleblower law, Purcell could receive from 15 percent to 25 percent of anything the government recovers.
Federal authorities involved in the case could not be reached for comment Thursday, but Scherer insisted that the loan was paid off and that the government has no lost money to recover.
“We’re going to vigorously (fight) the case, and we’re going to be completely exonerated if it doesn’t go away,” Scherer said. (Times staff writer Bill Adair contributed to this report.)
***********************
Interesting reading indeed! Since the publication of this article seven years ago, it seems as though precious little has changed. The company is still cagey about phone calls. Yesterday, a call to enquire of an individual named Sutha Selve, the man who deals with the Guyana market, was greeted by an enquiry about the source of the call. This was then followed by a series of recordings, including one that stated that even the operator was unavailable.
A recorded message for Mr Selve to return a call has not yet been honoured.
The first sourcing of the item was to the company and Selve had queried where the caller was calling from, on whose behalf the call was being made, and was the business conducted here.
The publisher of this newspaper Glenn Lall when he contacted the company was told that he must send an email with his company’s letterhead indicating who he is and what business he conducts. He (Selve) questioned Lall whether there were any other tenders out for bidding as it relates to the water pumps.
Lall responded in the affirmative and was asked to send a copy of the tender document along with the letterhead and information that he had requested.
Selve then blurted out that he hoped that it was not a newspaper calling.
“Some newspapers have been calling with questions about pump and engines.”
He added that he had “no f*#king time with any newspaper”.
“If the newspaper and their government got problems let them work it out.”
The modus operandi also explains Harrychand Tulsi’s bold challenge. “I hereby challenge the Kaieteur News to obtain a detailed quotation from this company for the pump, engine and gear drive and publish it in all the newspapers,” Mr Tulsi wrote yesterday in the Stabroek News.
September 4, 2009 | By KNews | Filed Under News
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/09/04/stanleytown-pump-supplier-implicated-in-international-fraud/
The following is an article which was published in the March 15, 2002 edition of the St. Petersburg Times, written by Adam C. Smith, Political Editor.
The Justice Department says a water pump company fraudulently helped Nigeria obtain $74-million in taxpayer-backed loans.
Gov. Jeb Bush’s former business partner in a venture to sell water pumps abroad defrauded the U.S. government of more than $74-million, federal authorities contend in a lawsuit.
The Justice Department alleges that MWI Corp. of Deerfield Beach, a water pump company whose equipment Bush marketed to foreign countries, fraudulently helped Nigeria obtain U.S. taxpayer-backed loans during his father’s administration.
Much of the loan money went for secret payoffs to Nigerian officials and equipment that was vastly overpriced and unneeded, the lawsuit says.
The company denies the allegations, many of which surfaced four years ago when a former MWI employee sued the company.
Bush, campaigning for governor at the time, shrugged off questions about the deal as little more than complaints from a disgruntled former staffer.
Now the Justice Department is making many of the same charges.
The pump deals occurred years before Bush became governor, and the lawsuit neither mentions him by name nor accuses him of wrongdoing.
But it suggests MWI used its political influence in the Republican Party to win the U.S. loans, and notes that MWI president J. David Eller went into business with “a member of a prominent national political family in an attempt to bolster MWI’s sales abroad.”
That’s a reference to Jeb Bush.
In 1989, Eller, a major Republican contributor, formed a company with Bush, Bush-El, to market MWI’s industrial water pumps abroad. Bush has described Eller as a “person of integrity.”
Twice while his father was in the White House, Bush visited Nigeria as a water pump representative. He visited Nigerian dignitaries and was showered with attention, including a parade for him in 1989 with 1,300 horses.
Jeb Bush sold his share in Bush-El in 1994, and has said he earned about $648,000 from the company.
He has insisted that he received no money on the Nigerian deals, saying he took no commissions on sales backed by U.S. loans to avoid a potential conflict of interest. He said his earnings came from his work in other countries, including Mexico, Indonesia and Malaysia, but in 1998 declined to detail that work.
“You either trust me or you don’t,” he told the Miami Herald in 1998.
Katie Baur, spokeswoman for the governor, said the governor was unaware of the lawsuit and had not spoken to federal authorities about the case.
“The governor had nothing to do with the … loans that are the subject of this,” Baur said.
The federal lawsuit accuses MWI of guiding the buyer and the Export-Import Bank of the United States into a deal loaded with falsehoods. It went like this, the suit said:
MWI found a well-connected Nigerian agent. By paying various Nigerian authorities in currency and goods, the agent convinced assorted Nigerian officials that they “needed” MWI’s pumps. Then MWI helped Nigeria get U.S. loans for projects with vastly inflated prices. Much of the hidden markups went for illegal payments to Nigerian officials, for huge commissions for MWI’s Nigerian agent, and for equipment overpriced as much as 500 percent.
Nigerian authorities would not have sought the loans for the pumps had they not received generous payments courtesy of MWI, the lawsuit contends.
Nigeria lacks the infrastructure and need for much of the equipment, and today, hundreds of pieces of equipment sold by MWI sit rusting and unused in Nigerian fields, the lawsuit says.
“That’s nonsense,” said MWI attorney William Scherer.
Scherer said that Nigeria continues to buy products from MWI and that the country has paid back the $74-million loaned by the Export-Import Bank, plus some $33-million interest.
“We have done nothing wrong, and the country paid back the money with interest,” Scherer said.
Officials with the Export-Import Bank could not be reached for comment Thursday, but weeks ago confirmed to the St. Petersburg Times that the loans had been paid off.
The Nigerian pump deals became a campaign issue in 1998, after former MWI vice president Robert Purcell (From page 12)
named Bush in a lawsuit against MWI and others. Purcell said he was cheated out of more than $1-million in profits that were diverted to Bush-El and other companies affiliated with Eller. The company denied the allegations, and Purcell’s lawsuit was settled under confidential terms.
Federal court records show that in August 1998 Purcell also filed a federal “whistleblower” lawsuit against MWI, accusing it of defrauding the federal government. That lawsuit remained sealed until recently while federal authorities investigated the charges.
At one point, FBI investigators in the Clinton administration were pursuing a criminal investigation into MWI, but Scherer said that apparently ended because the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution expired.
Still, the investigation continued into the George W. Bush administration.
In January, the U.S. Justice Department decided to intervene in the civil case on Purcell’s behalf. Under the whistleblower law, Purcell could receive from 15 percent to 25 percent of anything the government recovers.
Federal authorities involved in the case could not be reached for comment Thursday, but Scherer insisted that the loan was paid off and that the government has no lost money to recover.
“We’re going to vigorously (fight) the case, and we’re going to be completely exonerated if it doesn’t go away,” Scherer said. (Times staff writer Bill Adair contributed to this report.)
***********************
Interesting reading indeed! Since the publication of this article seven years ago, it seems as though precious little has changed. The company is still cagey about phone calls. Yesterday, a call to enquire of an individual named Sutha Selve, the man who deals with the Guyana market, was greeted by an enquiry about the source of the call. This was then followed by a series of recordings, including one that stated that even the operator was unavailable.
A recorded message for Mr Selve to return a call has not yet been honoured.
The first sourcing of the item was to the company and Selve had queried where the caller was calling from, on whose behalf the call was being made, and was the business conducted here.
The publisher of this newspaper Glenn Lall when he contacted the company was told that he must send an email with his company’s letterhead indicating who he is and what business he conducts. He (Selve) questioned Lall whether there were any other tenders out for bidding as it relates to the water pumps.
Lall responded in the affirmative and was asked to send a copy of the tender document along with the letterhead and information that he had requested.
Selve then blurted out that he hoped that it was not a newspaper calling.
“Some newspapers have been calling with questions about pump and engines.”
He added that he had “no f*#king time with any newspaper”.
“If the newspaper and their government got problems let them work it out.”
The modus operandi also explains Harrychand Tulsi’s bold challenge. “I hereby challenge the Kaieteur News to obtain a detailed quotation from this company for the pump, engine and gear drive and publish it in all the newspapers,” Mr Tulsi wrote yesterday in the Stabroek News.
Minister Clement Rohee US visa revoked
Clement Rohee must resign now!
September 4, 2009 | By knews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/09/04/clement-rohee-must-resign-now/
When Ministers are caught openly evading the truth, it gets them into trouble. But they resort to a traditional bulwark from which you cannot dislodge them. They would say I never said so or I never used those words. And they are right; they evaded using the words you expected them to say. It is a different matter entirely when they issue definitive statements that are not true and can be proven wrong.
Many people feel that certain very powerfully placed politicians will be in tsunami waters if it can be proven that they met with Roger Khan because they have repeatedly denied they met him or had any discussion with him.
As I wrote before, President Jagdeo is choosing his words carefully on the third term possibility. He has avoided saying that he will not run if his party wants him to or PPP supporters asked him to. So far his words are thus shaped; “I have no intention, no desire.” Those are very banal remarks people have used countless times in their individual lives. They have changed their minds with the following explanation; “At the time, it wasn’t my desire or intention.”
When President Jagdeo does accept the PPP’s nomination as presidential candidate for the 2011 elections and the press puts the question to him, he will say the same; “At the time, that was the way I felt.” It means you cannot accuse him of lying because he didn’t say, “I will never run in 2011.”
Clement Rohee is in a different category. This writer thought that Mr. Rohee’s achievements were phenomenal after he became a Minister in October 1992. As someone who hardly made it through primary school, Mr. Rohee rose to become one of the longest serving Cabinet Ministers in the CARICOM region.
But his career has been an inelegant, blemished, uninspiring one. From all my travels in this country meeting people, I believe that if a survey was taken by a reputable institution, it will find that Mr. Rohee is one of the least admired Ministers throughout the history of this nation. When you think of Mr. Rohee, Mr. Jagdeo, Mr. Kellawan Lall, Mr. Bheri Ramsaran, Mr. Charles Ramson, then think of Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Something was inherently defective about Jagan’s psychological make-up to have nurtured these types of personalities in the realm of working class politics. You don’t have to look far to see what a flawed character Jagan was – just look at who he left to administer his party and run the Government of Guyana.
It is a huge embarrassment for a nation when a Minister of a Government in 2009 does not know about “Google search.” I can understand a mediocre pretender like Vishnu Bisram who didn’t know about that.
Bisram as most Guyanese would know ended up being exposed. After 20 years of conducting polls all over the world, Bisram’s NACTA cannot be located by a Google search. Bisram was foolish enough not to know that people would Google him and his fictional organisation, NACTA. Rohee is a Government Minister. He should know about Google search. If he does not, he has no place in any organization in any country.
Here are Mr. Rohee’s own words in the letter pages of both independent dailies for September 2, 2009. He was responding to an enquiry from UWI law lecturer, Arif Bulkan as to why the American Embassy refused to give Rohee a visa. “I never said my visa was cancelled; others did, and sadly, Mr. Bulkan swallowed it, hook, line and sinker. Talk about commonsense!”
I hope Mr. Rohee knows what is commonsense and who has it, who hasn’t got it and who ought to have it. I Googled the following question, “Minister Clement Rohee US visa revoked,” and I got 122 items. Readers should know at the time, Rohee was International Trade Minister.
In the February 22, 2004 issue of the Stabroek News, then Foreign Minister, Insanally acknowledged to the newspaper that the US was not giving Mr. Rohee a visa, and Cabinet will have to take up the matter. GINA issued a press release on March 24 with the following words; “Mr. Rohee applied for an American visa but his application was revoked for reasons not given….” Another GINA report stated that Mr. Rohee was subsequently offered the reason why he couldn’t get his visa. This writer has written twice that he knows why the visa was not granted. It was told to me in 2006 by a US embassy official. But I was asked not to print it. A Freedom of Information request in the US by a US citizen should reveal the reason if Rohee doesn’t want to talk.
September 4, 2009 | By knews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/09/04/clement-rohee-must-resign-now/
When Ministers are caught openly evading the truth, it gets them into trouble. But they resort to a traditional bulwark from which you cannot dislodge them. They would say I never said so or I never used those words. And they are right; they evaded using the words you expected them to say. It is a different matter entirely when they issue definitive statements that are not true and can be proven wrong.
Many people feel that certain very powerfully placed politicians will be in tsunami waters if it can be proven that they met with Roger Khan because they have repeatedly denied they met him or had any discussion with him.
As I wrote before, President Jagdeo is choosing his words carefully on the third term possibility. He has avoided saying that he will not run if his party wants him to or PPP supporters asked him to. So far his words are thus shaped; “I have no intention, no desire.” Those are very banal remarks people have used countless times in their individual lives. They have changed their minds with the following explanation; “At the time, it wasn’t my desire or intention.”
When President Jagdeo does accept the PPP’s nomination as presidential candidate for the 2011 elections and the press puts the question to him, he will say the same; “At the time, that was the way I felt.” It means you cannot accuse him of lying because he didn’t say, “I will never run in 2011.”
Clement Rohee is in a different category. This writer thought that Mr. Rohee’s achievements were phenomenal after he became a Minister in October 1992. As someone who hardly made it through primary school, Mr. Rohee rose to become one of the longest serving Cabinet Ministers in the CARICOM region.
But his career has been an inelegant, blemished, uninspiring one. From all my travels in this country meeting people, I believe that if a survey was taken by a reputable institution, it will find that Mr. Rohee is one of the least admired Ministers throughout the history of this nation. When you think of Mr. Rohee, Mr. Jagdeo, Mr. Kellawan Lall, Mr. Bheri Ramsaran, Mr. Charles Ramson, then think of Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Something was inherently defective about Jagan’s psychological make-up to have nurtured these types of personalities in the realm of working class politics. You don’t have to look far to see what a flawed character Jagan was – just look at who he left to administer his party and run the Government of Guyana.
It is a huge embarrassment for a nation when a Minister of a Government in 2009 does not know about “Google search.” I can understand a mediocre pretender like Vishnu Bisram who didn’t know about that.
Bisram as most Guyanese would know ended up being exposed. After 20 years of conducting polls all over the world, Bisram’s NACTA cannot be located by a Google search. Bisram was foolish enough not to know that people would Google him and his fictional organisation, NACTA. Rohee is a Government Minister. He should know about Google search. If he does not, he has no place in any organization in any country.
Here are Mr. Rohee’s own words in the letter pages of both independent dailies for September 2, 2009. He was responding to an enquiry from UWI law lecturer, Arif Bulkan as to why the American Embassy refused to give Rohee a visa. “I never said my visa was cancelled; others did, and sadly, Mr. Bulkan swallowed it, hook, line and sinker. Talk about commonsense!”
I hope Mr. Rohee knows what is commonsense and who has it, who hasn’t got it and who ought to have it. I Googled the following question, “Minister Clement Rohee US visa revoked,” and I got 122 items. Readers should know at the time, Rohee was International Trade Minister.
In the February 22, 2004 issue of the Stabroek News, then Foreign Minister, Insanally acknowledged to the newspaper that the US was not giving Mr. Rohee a visa, and Cabinet will have to take up the matter. GINA issued a press release on March 24 with the following words; “Mr. Rohee applied for an American visa but his application was revoked for reasons not given….” Another GINA report stated that Mr. Rohee was subsequently offered the reason why he couldn’t get his visa. This writer has written twice that he knows why the visa was not granted. It was told to me in 2006 by a US embassy official. But I was asked not to print it. A Freedom of Information request in the US by a US citizen should reveal the reason if Rohee doesn’t want to talk.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Polygraphy is not a panacea for addressing corruption at al levels
Guyana Chronicle Letter to the Editor, Wednesday 02 September 2009
Polygraphy is not a panacea for addressing corruption at al levels
Mr. ARIF Bulkan has jumped into the deep end of the polygraph pool without realizing there was no water in the pool.
Most of what he wrote about and cobbled together as an “analysis” can be found on the internet debate website on polygraphy.
The Government of Guyana was very much aware of the pros and cons of the debate and the efficacy of polygraphy before we took the decision to embark on polygraph testing. We did so with our eyes wide open. And that is the sovereign right of any government. Some think it is was wrong to do so and that is their right. But in the final analysis, decisions have to be taken and governments must be decisive in this respect.
We never said that polygraphy is a panacea for addressing corruption at all levels. Indeed, we recognized there are other measures that must be taken to deal with this social malady.
The recent passage of a number of anti-crime legislation in the National Assembly including the Wire-Tapping legislation and the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorism Legislation among others will, cumulatively, contribute effectively to the Administration’s fight against corruption in all its manifestations.
This government is adopting measures which the previous administration never took. Comparative analysis is critical in evaluating the performance of one administration or another
Mr. Bulkan should do the research (as he pretended to so as regards polygraphy) on what the PNC did to address corruption during their term in office. The Kwayana vs David Singh case might be of interest to him.
The PPP/C Administration is not committed to talking shop about corruption on the contrary; it is committed to rooting out corruption wherever and whenever it is to be found. In so doing, it is likely to incur the wrath of the apologists, political opponents and armchair academics who seek to besmirch the efforts of the Government by articulating views which they hope would embarrass the Government. They spare no effort to lecture the government about the do’s and don’t’s of governance. To them they know it all!
It appears that Mr. Bulkan has joined the rickety bandwagon whose passengers are having a difficult time convincing others about “corruption at the highest levels of Government”
The point is that they have failed because they do not have a shred of evidence to prove anything against a single Minister of Government. It is all talk and nothing more but talk.
Mr. Bulkan hasn’t the slightest clue about what it means to be a Member of Cabinet and maybe he never will. Cabinet is a collective decision making body.
Once Cabinet takes a decision on any matter that’s it, every man Jack or woman Jenny falls in line.
It would be foolish if not highly indisciplined for a Cabinet Minister to strike out on his or her own and to go public against a Cabinet decision
In fact, it would be better for that Minister to walk rather than face the likelihood of being booted out by the President. Mr. Arif Bulkan and his ilk would rub their hands in glee were that to happen.
Mr. Bulkan knows little about my history in politics and moreso, about my personal life. I too know little or nothing about Mr. Bulkan’s professional or personal life. Thus I am no position to question his integrity as a lawyer or otherwise.
The citizens of Guyana are free to comment on my conduct, statements and/or performance as a Minister of Government. However, when it comes to my personal integrity that is a totally different matter. In this regard, Mr. Bulkan is way out of line.
Finally, as regards my ability to travel to the United States, Mr. Bulkan by admission is clearly in the dark. Since he has the proof/evidence that my US Visa was “cancelled” he should provide the public with the proof/evidence to embarrass me even more. I never said my US Visa was cancelled, others did and sadly, Bulkan swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Talk about common sense!
CLEMENT J. ROHEE
Minister
Polygraphy is not a panacea for addressing corruption at al levels
Mr. ARIF Bulkan has jumped into the deep end of the polygraph pool without realizing there was no water in the pool.
Most of what he wrote about and cobbled together as an “analysis” can be found on the internet debate website on polygraphy.
The Government of Guyana was very much aware of the pros and cons of the debate and the efficacy of polygraphy before we took the decision to embark on polygraph testing. We did so with our eyes wide open. And that is the sovereign right of any government. Some think it is was wrong to do so and that is their right. But in the final analysis, decisions have to be taken and governments must be decisive in this respect.
We never said that polygraphy is a panacea for addressing corruption at all levels. Indeed, we recognized there are other measures that must be taken to deal with this social malady.
The recent passage of a number of anti-crime legislation in the National Assembly including the Wire-Tapping legislation and the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorism Legislation among others will, cumulatively, contribute effectively to the Administration’s fight against corruption in all its manifestations.
This government is adopting measures which the previous administration never took. Comparative analysis is critical in evaluating the performance of one administration or another
Mr. Bulkan should do the research (as he pretended to so as regards polygraphy) on what the PNC did to address corruption during their term in office. The Kwayana vs David Singh case might be of interest to him.
The PPP/C Administration is not committed to talking shop about corruption on the contrary; it is committed to rooting out corruption wherever and whenever it is to be found. In so doing, it is likely to incur the wrath of the apologists, political opponents and armchair academics who seek to besmirch the efforts of the Government by articulating views which they hope would embarrass the Government. They spare no effort to lecture the government about the do’s and don’t’s of governance. To them they know it all!
It appears that Mr. Bulkan has joined the rickety bandwagon whose passengers are having a difficult time convincing others about “corruption at the highest levels of Government”
The point is that they have failed because they do not have a shred of evidence to prove anything against a single Minister of Government. It is all talk and nothing more but talk.
Mr. Bulkan hasn’t the slightest clue about what it means to be a Member of Cabinet and maybe he never will. Cabinet is a collective decision making body.
Once Cabinet takes a decision on any matter that’s it, every man Jack or woman Jenny falls in line.
It would be foolish if not highly indisciplined for a Cabinet Minister to strike out on his or her own and to go public against a Cabinet decision
In fact, it would be better for that Minister to walk rather than face the likelihood of being booted out by the President. Mr. Arif Bulkan and his ilk would rub their hands in glee were that to happen.
Mr. Bulkan knows little about my history in politics and moreso, about my personal life. I too know little or nothing about Mr. Bulkan’s professional or personal life. Thus I am no position to question his integrity as a lawyer or otherwise.
The citizens of Guyana are free to comment on my conduct, statements and/or performance as a Minister of Government. However, when it comes to my personal integrity that is a totally different matter. In this regard, Mr. Bulkan is way out of line.
Finally, as regards my ability to travel to the United States, Mr. Bulkan by admission is clearly in the dark. Since he has the proof/evidence that my US Visa was “cancelled” he should provide the public with the proof/evidence to embarrass me even more. I never said my US Visa was cancelled, others did and sadly, Bulkan swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Talk about common sense!
CLEMENT J. ROHEE
Minister
Sunday, August 30, 2009
BK International has been awarded a $267 million contract
Regional Chairman admits using sub-standard materials to repair bridges
August 30, 2009 | By KNews | Filed Under News
- West Demerara rice farmers fed up with poor infrastructure
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/08/30/regional-chairman-admits-using-sub-standard-materials-to-repair-bridges/
By Neil Marks
When a loud scream of “lie!” came from a rice farmer, it was clear this was not going to be an ordinary meeting.
Soon, many more accusations started flying, and Region Three Chairman, Julius Faerber, bore the brunt of them.
Rice farmer Kamal Ramraj says this bridge was built using sub-standard materials and is not suitable for the passage of heavy-duty cane harvesting equipment.
Rice farmer Kamal Ramraj says this bridge was built using sub-standard materials and is not suitable for the passage of heavy-duty cane harvesting equipment.
As soon as he started speaking at a meeting yesterday with West Demerara rice farmers, organised by the Rice Producers Association (RPA), Faerber was shot down.
Rice farmers are fed up with the excuses regarding the poor state of infrastructure as they head into second crop harvesting.
Faerber started off by declaring that the Regional Administration has assisted farmers in draining the rice dams.
Then is when he received the stinging rebuff of ‘lie” from one of the farmers who gathered at the Windsor Forest Primary School.
The meeting was called for the farmers to discuss their problems with key officials. Those in attendance to meet with the farmers, apart from Faerber, were Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud; Chief Executive Officer of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) Lionel Wordsworth; Senior Engineer with the Agriculture Sector Development Unit, Frederick Flatts, and General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board, Jagnarine Singh.
When Faerber complained that the Regional Administration was experiencing difficulties, namely an out-of-order bulldozer, in grading the dams to allow for easy access, it was irritating.
“Wait fo rain fall!” a farmer shouted at him. When Faerber said the administration was facing difficulties in accessing “crush and run” to make the dams more “comfortable” farmers threw their hands in the air in anger.
But Faerber kept on detailing other projects the Regional Administration had undertaken to assist the farmers.
He pointed out that the Region had built three irrigation structures, but farmers said these were so badly constructed that “dem done rotten out.”
In fact, chairman of the Vreed-en-hoop/La Jalousie Water Users Association, Kamal Ramraj, said the structures “done blow way.” It was money wasted.
When farmers requested the costing for the projects, Faerber could not provide it and instead told the farmer to meet him at his office tomorrow.
There were claims that the Regional Administration had repaired several bridges before the last crop started.
But the farmers said this was another lie, and that in fact the bridges were constructed after the last crop. Even so, Ramraj said that the bridges, which Faerber said cost $3.2 million, were built using sub-standard materials.
Faerber was forced to admit that the Regional Administration used sub-standard material, because it was their judgment that some of the materials could be “use back” to repair the bridges.
Ramraj said this was a fool-hardy decision, and even with the sub-standard material used, the bridges would not withstand the pressure of the heavy duty rice harvesters and as a result after this second crop, more money would have to be spent to repair the bridges.
Water Users Associations (WUA) have been formed to empower farmers with responsibility to rehabilitating, sustaining and managing drainage and irrigation systems. The Minister of Agriculture urged “every single farmer” to take ownership of projects in their communities, but in a constructive way and not to go and “cuss down” the contractors.
Persaud told the farmers they should attend the bi-weekly meetings the WUA has with the contractors and the supervisory consultants to express any concerns they have with government projects. Contracting firm BK International has been awarded a $267 million contract to construct a total of 34 drainage and irrigation structures between Vreed-en-hoop and La Jalousie. The project also entails the replacement of 13 bridges and the re-construction of 11 kilometers of access roads.
However, the Ministry of Agriculture has expressed concern about the pace of works and is expected to meet with the contractor tomorrow.
August 30, 2009 | By KNews | Filed Under News
- West Demerara rice farmers fed up with poor infrastructure
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/08/30/regional-chairman-admits-using-sub-standard-materials-to-repair-bridges/
By Neil Marks
When a loud scream of “lie!” came from a rice farmer, it was clear this was not going to be an ordinary meeting.
Soon, many more accusations started flying, and Region Three Chairman, Julius Faerber, bore the brunt of them.
Rice farmer Kamal Ramraj says this bridge was built using sub-standard materials and is not suitable for the passage of heavy-duty cane harvesting equipment.
Rice farmer Kamal Ramraj says this bridge was built using sub-standard materials and is not suitable for the passage of heavy-duty cane harvesting equipment.
As soon as he started speaking at a meeting yesterday with West Demerara rice farmers, organised by the Rice Producers Association (RPA), Faerber was shot down.
Rice farmers are fed up with the excuses regarding the poor state of infrastructure as they head into second crop harvesting.
Faerber started off by declaring that the Regional Administration has assisted farmers in draining the rice dams.
Then is when he received the stinging rebuff of ‘lie” from one of the farmers who gathered at the Windsor Forest Primary School.
The meeting was called for the farmers to discuss their problems with key officials. Those in attendance to meet with the farmers, apart from Faerber, were Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud; Chief Executive Officer of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) Lionel Wordsworth; Senior Engineer with the Agriculture Sector Development Unit, Frederick Flatts, and General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board, Jagnarine Singh.
When Faerber complained that the Regional Administration was experiencing difficulties, namely an out-of-order bulldozer, in grading the dams to allow for easy access, it was irritating.
“Wait fo rain fall!” a farmer shouted at him. When Faerber said the administration was facing difficulties in accessing “crush and run” to make the dams more “comfortable” farmers threw their hands in the air in anger.
But Faerber kept on detailing other projects the Regional Administration had undertaken to assist the farmers.
He pointed out that the Region had built three irrigation structures, but farmers said these were so badly constructed that “dem done rotten out.”
In fact, chairman of the Vreed-en-hoop/La Jalousie Water Users Association, Kamal Ramraj, said the structures “done blow way.” It was money wasted.
When farmers requested the costing for the projects, Faerber could not provide it and instead told the farmer to meet him at his office tomorrow.
There were claims that the Regional Administration had repaired several bridges before the last crop started.
But the farmers said this was another lie, and that in fact the bridges were constructed after the last crop. Even so, Ramraj said that the bridges, which Faerber said cost $3.2 million, were built using sub-standard materials.
Faerber was forced to admit that the Regional Administration used sub-standard material, because it was their judgment that some of the materials could be “use back” to repair the bridges.
Ramraj said this was a fool-hardy decision, and even with the sub-standard material used, the bridges would not withstand the pressure of the heavy duty rice harvesters and as a result after this second crop, more money would have to be spent to repair the bridges.
Water Users Associations (WUA) have been formed to empower farmers with responsibility to rehabilitating, sustaining and managing drainage and irrigation systems. The Minister of Agriculture urged “every single farmer” to take ownership of projects in their communities, but in a constructive way and not to go and “cuss down” the contractors.
Persaud told the farmers they should attend the bi-weekly meetings the WUA has with the contractors and the supervisory consultants to express any concerns they have with government projects. Contracting firm BK International has been awarded a $267 million contract to construct a total of 34 drainage and irrigation structures between Vreed-en-hoop and La Jalousie. The project also entails the replacement of 13 bridges and the re-construction of 11 kilometers of access roads.
However, the Ministry of Agriculture has expressed concern about the pace of works and is expected to meet with the contractor tomorrow.
Morgan case offers more clues for money laundering probes
Morgan case offers more clues for money laundering probes
Posted By Stabroek staff On August 30, 2009 @ 5:17 am In Local News | 7 Comments
Peter Morgan’s imminent sentencing in the US for conspiracy to import drugs offers another lead for local authorities to figure out why they failed to uncover his activities, in the same way that Roger Khan was untouched for many years.
Morgan’s case revealed a pattern of huge currency declarations on arrival in the US –
presumably the proceeds of his drug business. For each declaration in the US, there should have been a corresponding declaration at the Timehri airport. Those declarations in turn should have triggered questions about the nature of his business here and whether it warranted investigation.
Stabroek News has been unable to get any information from the Immigration Department to ascertain whether they have declaration records between December 2001 and August 2003, the period Morgan admitted that he trafficked in narcotics. But even before that time, the confessed drug dealer was declaring large sums of money, as he has admitted in court documents. In entering a guilty plea to charges, Morgan admitted that he and family members may have made over 60 trips to the US carrying large sums of money. He had claimed that the money was to conduct business on behalf of Morgan Auto Sales, his company here.
It is unclear how the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a one man organisation for many years, operated in those years. Contact was made with director Paul Geer but he was overseas at the time and asked that he be contacted some time this week when he would be in Guyana.
The full implementation of the recently assented to Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorism Act is supposed to boost the powers of the FIU, which would be able to enter into formal and informal information exchange agreements with local and international institutions with similar responsibilities in order to curtail money laundering and related crimes.
The act was passed with the full support of the National Assembly on April 30 after spending almost two years in a Special Select Committee. The government has been heavily criticised for not having such a law in place many years ago. A less severe law was on the books for years but not a single charge was brought under it.
The new law provides for oversight of the export and insurance industries, real estate, and alternative remittance systems, and sets forth the penalties for non-compliance. It also establishes the FIU as an independent body that answers only to the President, and defines in detail its role and powers. The new law is believed to be a significant improvement on previous anti-money laundering legislation and covers, among other things, the freezing and forfeiture of assets owned or controlled by persons suspected of engaging in money laundering activities.
Black market
currency exchange
For his part, as he attempted to mount a defence prior to entering a guilty plea, Morgan claimed that the reason he and his relatives travelled with large sums of foreign currency was because he benefited from favourable exchange rates using Guyana dollars to purchase ForEx which was then used to pay overseas suppliers of his company.
It would have to be believed that for almost 20 years Morgan used market fluctuations to trade for profit in currency, because the unusual economic conditions in Guyana forced most businessmen in this country to pay vendors in other currency. He claimed that his business, which was established in 1991, utilised the New York bank account of Sabena Manufacturing, established by his father, James Morgan at the JP Morgan Chase Bank way back in 1985. Since the establishment of that bank account Morgan and his relatives made over 60 trips to the US carrying large sums of US and Canadian dollars along with British pounds totalling millions of dollars, all of which were declared.
But what Morgan did not say in his explanation was that JP Morgan Chase account was closed by US authorities and the proceeds given to the state as it was the same bank account his sister Sabrina Budhram and her husband, Arnold, admitted to using to launder money for Khan and others. The account was in the name of Morgan’s father, who is currently serving time in the United Kingdom for a drug offence. According to the prosecution in the Budhram matter, the account was used to launder money from drug pushers in Guyana. The Budhrams have pleaded guilty to certain aspects of money laundering and while Arnold has been sentenced to three years’ probation and his wife to one year in prison.
However, Morgan claimed that his business, which he said he built into a profitable enterprise, involved buying, importing and selling previously owned and/or reconditioned automobiles, trucks, machinery, automotive parts and other products. To develop his business, he said he travelled extensively to find vendors and create business relationships and while customers were located in Guyana and paid in Guyana currency his vendors were located in Singapore, England, Japan and China. It was noted that Guyana currency is not accepted outside Guyana and as such he used US, British and Canadian currency when conducting business outside Guyana.
However, the US Government argued that his explanation simply illustrated how drug dealers in Guyana, like those in Colombia, could take advantage of a black market currency exchange to launder drug proceeds with individuals paying Guyanese dollars in Guyana in order to have drug dollars in the United States wired to accounts across the world to pay for legitimate expenditures.
In any event, the US government argued, even if the court was informed that Sabena Manufacturing’s bank account was used to pay vendors for Morgan Auto Sales, which engages in a car business in Guyana, that would have made no difference in the probable cause determination considering that multiple drug couriers specifically identified the residence of the Budhrams as a drop-off point for drug proceeds and toll records showed that their telephone was in contact with identified targets of the narcotics investigation.
Had the case gone to trial, the government was expected to present evidence that would have shown that David and Susan Narine [David is awaiting sentencing in the US for drug trafficking while Susan has been released] hired couriers to carry drugs from Guyana to the Eastern District of New York, which resulted in several seizures at John F. Kennedy airport and numerous arrests. The evidence would have also shown, according to the government, that the Narines received dozens of kilograms of cocaine from Morgan and that the drugs supplied by the defendant were delivered to New York, as well as to Canada and the United Kingdom, and drug proceeds generated in the New York area were delivered to and laundered by the defendant’s sister, Sabrina Budhram.
Morgan was nabbed in March 2007 in Trinidad by Trinidadian and US authorities while he was in-transit at the Piarco Airport. He was extradited to the US on August 23, 2007, after he withdrew a last-ditch appeal he had made in the Port of Spain Appellate Court.
When he pleaded guilty, Morgan told the court that he fully understood what he was doing. When asked to explain what he did, Morgan told the court that between December 2001 and August 2003 he conspired, with David Narine, to get cocaine in and out of Guyana and that he was fully aware of his actions and his conduct. He said agreed with Narine to import cocaine into the US.
7 Comments (Open | Close)
7 Comments To "Morgan case offers more clues for money laundering probes"
#1 Comment By Cummins On August 30, 2009 @ 6:11 am
Stabroeknews, you are doing the work of the Guyana police. But then again I can hear the commissioner saying “bring the evidence” so they can file charges. God knows, Guyana Police Force must be the laziest law enforcement agency in the world; never going out to investigate (suspected) crimes but always wants “ready done work”.
#2 Comment By BORAPORK On August 30, 2009 @ 6:37 am
These people have sullied the reputation of all law abiding Guyanese by making us all drug dealing suspects. I hope his sentence is of very long duration and all his assets in Guyana are seized, based on his admission in a court of law that he was implicated in drug trafficking. There had to be facilitators and they must be exposed and face justice regardless of their positions in the highest chambers of power. Guyana is a lawless country run by a morally corrupt and bankrupt government, fortified in the knowledge that its most ignorant supporters will blindly follow wherever led and do as commanded.
#3 Comment By amenra[jackass seh de wurl na level] On August 30, 2009 @ 7:08 am
He was able to trick the guyana govt, because guyana laws are weak when it come to money laundering, but he couldn’t fool the u.s because they had him on surveilance for years, you do the crime now do the time, now it’s time for guyana to get it’s act right and seize all his assets.
#4 Comment By SWAT On August 30, 2009 @ 8:36 am
It is hard to comprehend why the GY press continues to call individuals engaged in the drug trade “businessmen”. Let us see if the GY government has the intestinal fortitude to enforce the money-laundering laws on the books and seize this guy ill-gotten asset.
#5 Comment By Brandon Samaroo (PPP is now the new and improved PNC Dictatorship) On August 30, 2009 @ 8:48 am
Trick implies that the Guyana govt did not know what was going on.
I beg to differ they absolutely knew what was going on they turned a blind eye. Did they ever stop and frisk morgan on his several trips out of timehri? absolutely not!
#6 Comment By macattack On August 30, 2009 @ 9:02 am
The submission of outgoing Currency Declaration forms falls under the perview of the Customs and Excise Department.This declaration is submitted to the Customs and Excise Officer ,no questions being asked nor verification of the amount of currency being taken out .At the end of the shift all forms are bundled together and placed in a box and periodically sent to Customs House.
This system was abused by businessmen acting in collusion with Customs and Excise officers who facilitated the export of foreign currency by signing and countersigning false declaration forms .
These forms are routinely destroyed after the business man had departed Guyana’s shores with large quantities of foreign currency.
There will be no Currency Declaration forms for Peter Morgan at Customs House.
Note that Peter Morgan sold a number of bush trucks to Customs Officers and was well connected with the officers of the Customs and Excise Department.
#7 Comment By turbo On August 30, 2009 @ 9:59 am
it’s amazing the questions people asks about this ppp govt. when
they fully know that once you are a ppp friend you are untouchable
and free to do what you want in guyana
Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/stories/08/30/morgan-case-offers-more-clues-for-money-laundering-probes/
Posted By Stabroek staff On August 30, 2009 @ 5:17 am In Local News | 7 Comments
Peter Morgan’s imminent sentencing in the US for conspiracy to import drugs offers another lead for local authorities to figure out why they failed to uncover his activities, in the same way that Roger Khan was untouched for many years.
Morgan’s case revealed a pattern of huge currency declarations on arrival in the US –
presumably the proceeds of his drug business. For each declaration in the US, there should have been a corresponding declaration at the Timehri airport. Those declarations in turn should have triggered questions about the nature of his business here and whether it warranted investigation.
Stabroek News has been unable to get any information from the Immigration Department to ascertain whether they have declaration records between December 2001 and August 2003, the period Morgan admitted that he trafficked in narcotics. But even before that time, the confessed drug dealer was declaring large sums of money, as he has admitted in court documents. In entering a guilty plea to charges, Morgan admitted that he and family members may have made over 60 trips to the US carrying large sums of money. He had claimed that the money was to conduct business on behalf of Morgan Auto Sales, his company here.
It is unclear how the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a one man organisation for many years, operated in those years. Contact was made with director Paul Geer but he was overseas at the time and asked that he be contacted some time this week when he would be in Guyana.
The full implementation of the recently assented to Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorism Act is supposed to boost the powers of the FIU, which would be able to enter into formal and informal information exchange agreements with local and international institutions with similar responsibilities in order to curtail money laundering and related crimes.
The act was passed with the full support of the National Assembly on April 30 after spending almost two years in a Special Select Committee. The government has been heavily criticised for not having such a law in place many years ago. A less severe law was on the books for years but not a single charge was brought under it.
The new law provides for oversight of the export and insurance industries, real estate, and alternative remittance systems, and sets forth the penalties for non-compliance. It also establishes the FIU as an independent body that answers only to the President, and defines in detail its role and powers. The new law is believed to be a significant improvement on previous anti-money laundering legislation and covers, among other things, the freezing and forfeiture of assets owned or controlled by persons suspected of engaging in money laundering activities.
Black market
currency exchange
For his part, as he attempted to mount a defence prior to entering a guilty plea, Morgan claimed that the reason he and his relatives travelled with large sums of foreign currency was because he benefited from favourable exchange rates using Guyana dollars to purchase ForEx which was then used to pay overseas suppliers of his company.
It would have to be believed that for almost 20 years Morgan used market fluctuations to trade for profit in currency, because the unusual economic conditions in Guyana forced most businessmen in this country to pay vendors in other currency. He claimed that his business, which was established in 1991, utilised the New York bank account of Sabena Manufacturing, established by his father, James Morgan at the JP Morgan Chase Bank way back in 1985. Since the establishment of that bank account Morgan and his relatives made over 60 trips to the US carrying large sums of US and Canadian dollars along with British pounds totalling millions of dollars, all of which were declared.
But what Morgan did not say in his explanation was that JP Morgan Chase account was closed by US authorities and the proceeds given to the state as it was the same bank account his sister Sabrina Budhram and her husband, Arnold, admitted to using to launder money for Khan and others. The account was in the name of Morgan’s father, who is currently serving time in the United Kingdom for a drug offence. According to the prosecution in the Budhram matter, the account was used to launder money from drug pushers in Guyana. The Budhrams have pleaded guilty to certain aspects of money laundering and while Arnold has been sentenced to three years’ probation and his wife to one year in prison.
However, Morgan claimed that his business, which he said he built into a profitable enterprise, involved buying, importing and selling previously owned and/or reconditioned automobiles, trucks, machinery, automotive parts and other products. To develop his business, he said he travelled extensively to find vendors and create business relationships and while customers were located in Guyana and paid in Guyana currency his vendors were located in Singapore, England, Japan and China. It was noted that Guyana currency is not accepted outside Guyana and as such he used US, British and Canadian currency when conducting business outside Guyana.
However, the US Government argued that his explanation simply illustrated how drug dealers in Guyana, like those in Colombia, could take advantage of a black market currency exchange to launder drug proceeds with individuals paying Guyanese dollars in Guyana in order to have drug dollars in the United States wired to accounts across the world to pay for legitimate expenditures.
In any event, the US government argued, even if the court was informed that Sabena Manufacturing’s bank account was used to pay vendors for Morgan Auto Sales, which engages in a car business in Guyana, that would have made no difference in the probable cause determination considering that multiple drug couriers specifically identified the residence of the Budhrams as a drop-off point for drug proceeds and toll records showed that their telephone was in contact with identified targets of the narcotics investigation.
Had the case gone to trial, the government was expected to present evidence that would have shown that David and Susan Narine [David is awaiting sentencing in the US for drug trafficking while Susan has been released] hired couriers to carry drugs from Guyana to the Eastern District of New York, which resulted in several seizures at John F. Kennedy airport and numerous arrests. The evidence would have also shown, according to the government, that the Narines received dozens of kilograms of cocaine from Morgan and that the drugs supplied by the defendant were delivered to New York, as well as to Canada and the United Kingdom, and drug proceeds generated in the New York area were delivered to and laundered by the defendant’s sister, Sabrina Budhram.
Morgan was nabbed in March 2007 in Trinidad by Trinidadian and US authorities while he was in-transit at the Piarco Airport. He was extradited to the US on August 23, 2007, after he withdrew a last-ditch appeal he had made in the Port of Spain Appellate Court.
When he pleaded guilty, Morgan told the court that he fully understood what he was doing. When asked to explain what he did, Morgan told the court that between December 2001 and August 2003 he conspired, with David Narine, to get cocaine in and out of Guyana and that he was fully aware of his actions and his conduct. He said agreed with Narine to import cocaine into the US.
7 Comments (Open | Close)
7 Comments To "Morgan case offers more clues for money laundering probes"
#1 Comment By Cummins On August 30, 2009 @ 6:11 am
Stabroeknews, you are doing the work of the Guyana police. But then again I can hear the commissioner saying “bring the evidence” so they can file charges. God knows, Guyana Police Force must be the laziest law enforcement agency in the world; never going out to investigate (suspected) crimes but always wants “ready done work”.
#2 Comment By BORAPORK On August 30, 2009 @ 6:37 am
These people have sullied the reputation of all law abiding Guyanese by making us all drug dealing suspects. I hope his sentence is of very long duration and all his assets in Guyana are seized, based on his admission in a court of law that he was implicated in drug trafficking. There had to be facilitators and they must be exposed and face justice regardless of their positions in the highest chambers of power. Guyana is a lawless country run by a morally corrupt and bankrupt government, fortified in the knowledge that its most ignorant supporters will blindly follow wherever led and do as commanded.
#3 Comment By amenra[jackass seh de wurl na level] On August 30, 2009 @ 7:08 am
He was able to trick the guyana govt, because guyana laws are weak when it come to money laundering, but he couldn’t fool the u.s because they had him on surveilance for years, you do the crime now do the time, now it’s time for guyana to get it’s act right and seize all his assets.
#4 Comment By SWAT On August 30, 2009 @ 8:36 am
It is hard to comprehend why the GY press continues to call individuals engaged in the drug trade “businessmen”. Let us see if the GY government has the intestinal fortitude to enforce the money-laundering laws on the books and seize this guy ill-gotten asset.
#5 Comment By Brandon Samaroo (PPP is now the new and improved PNC Dictatorship) On August 30, 2009 @ 8:48 am
Trick implies that the Guyana govt did not know what was going on.
I beg to differ they absolutely knew what was going on they turned a blind eye. Did they ever stop and frisk morgan on his several trips out of timehri? absolutely not!
#6 Comment By macattack On August 30, 2009 @ 9:02 am
The submission of outgoing Currency Declaration forms falls under the perview of the Customs and Excise Department.This declaration is submitted to the Customs and Excise Officer ,no questions being asked nor verification of the amount of currency being taken out .At the end of the shift all forms are bundled together and placed in a box and periodically sent to Customs House.
This system was abused by businessmen acting in collusion with Customs and Excise officers who facilitated the export of foreign currency by signing and countersigning false declaration forms .
These forms are routinely destroyed after the business man had departed Guyana’s shores with large quantities of foreign currency.
There will be no Currency Declaration forms for Peter Morgan at Customs House.
Note that Peter Morgan sold a number of bush trucks to Customs Officers and was well connected with the officers of the Customs and Excise Department.
#7 Comment By turbo On August 30, 2009 @ 9:59 am
it’s amazing the questions people asks about this ppp govt. when
they fully know that once you are a ppp friend you are untouchable
and free to do what you want in guyana
Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/stories/08/30/morgan-case-offers-more-clues-for-money-laundering-probes/
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Suriname to reopen ‘backtrack’ route
Suriname to reopen ‘backtrack’ route
Posted By Stabroek staff On August 24, 2009 @ 5:10 am In Local News | 18 Comments
Surinamese authorities have decided to reopen the illegal route across the Corentyne River from today following discussions between Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud and his counterpart in Nickerie yesterday.
Robert Persaud [1]
Robert Persaud
According to a release from the Ministry of Agriculture, Persaud met with Agriculture Minister of Suriname, Dr Karamchand Ragoebarsingh and the Commissar of Nickerie, B Shankar to discuss that country’s recent closure of the illegal route.
Following the discussions, the Surinamese authorities agreed to lift the closure, allowing border crossing for people, goods and certified agricultural exports.
Persaud, according to the release, welcomed the reopening of the route, and restated Guyana’s commitment to work collaboratively with the Surinamese authorities in the areas of agriculture development, particularly in plant health surveillance and management. The Surinamese Agriculture Minister also used the opportunity to give his commitment to work with Guyana and assured that there will be no barrier to certified agriculture trade.
Stabroek News reported earlier this week on the actions taken by the authorities in Suriname, with officials at Nickerie closing the route sometime last Monday, citing the presence of the plant disease, Black Sigatoka -a yeast disease affecting plantain and banana plants -as rampant in Guyana.
The Ministry of Agriculture here was informed of the claim by the Surinamese and Persaud subsequently issued a statement, noting that he was due to meet his Surinamese counterpart to discuss the issue.
The two ministers will continue to hold discussions and work towards greater cooperation at the technical level.
18 Comments (Open | Close)
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/stories/08/24/suriname-to-reopen-%e2%80%98backtrack%e2%80%99-route/
Posted By Stabroek staff On August 24, 2009 @ 5:10 am In Local News | 18 Comments
Surinamese authorities have decided to reopen the illegal route across the Corentyne River from today following discussions between Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud and his counterpart in Nickerie yesterday.
Robert Persaud [1]
Robert Persaud
According to a release from the Ministry of Agriculture, Persaud met with Agriculture Minister of Suriname, Dr Karamchand Ragoebarsingh and the Commissar of Nickerie, B Shankar to discuss that country’s recent closure of the illegal route.
Following the discussions, the Surinamese authorities agreed to lift the closure, allowing border crossing for people, goods and certified agricultural exports.
Persaud, according to the release, welcomed the reopening of the route, and restated Guyana’s commitment to work collaboratively with the Surinamese authorities in the areas of agriculture development, particularly in plant health surveillance and management. The Surinamese Agriculture Minister also used the opportunity to give his commitment to work with Guyana and assured that there will be no barrier to certified agriculture trade.
Stabroek News reported earlier this week on the actions taken by the authorities in Suriname, with officials at Nickerie closing the route sometime last Monday, citing the presence of the plant disease, Black Sigatoka -a yeast disease affecting plantain and banana plants -as rampant in Guyana.
The Ministry of Agriculture here was informed of the claim by the Surinamese and Persaud subsequently issued a statement, noting that he was due to meet his Surinamese counterpart to discuss the issue.
The two ministers will continue to hold discussions and work towards greater cooperation at the technical level.
18 Comments (Open | Close)
URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/stories/08/24/suriname-to-reopen-%e2%80%98backtrack%e2%80%99-route/
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