- as fraud investigations continue into GRA
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo, on Wednesday, said the government was looking to hire an overseas firm to dig deeper into the fraud allegations at the Guyana Revenue Authority, GRA.

The Police, Ministry of Finance and the Auditor General Office are currently leading an investigation into fraud at the GRA, which started with a discovery that import duties for Polar Beer by Fidelity Investments were not properly paid.

Mr. Jagdeo said the government has inquired of the U.S. about companies which conduct forensic audits and investigations into serious financial fraud. The President said it is government’s intention to expand the investigation beyond Fidelity and to zoom in on the financial and non-financial assets of members of GRA.

Mr. Jagdeo said that, that dismissal would not be the only end game for those found guilty, saying the government would be seeking prosecution against them.

The existence of a fraud ring at the GRA surfaced when Fidelity claimed that it paid money to its broker and the broker split the money with Customs officers in clearing for soft drinks instead of beers, Mr. Jagdeo said at a press conference Wednesday.

The President said “Fidelity broke the law and have to face the penalties, but the fraud case the government is building is largely because of Fidelity.

The customs officers claimed they cleared some three million bottles of soft drinks, but not a single one was recorded in the reporting system at GRA.

Early this year, the GRA Enforcement Section went to Fidelity’s Lot 20 Broad and Charles Streets location, demanding to see all registers, Customs declarations, tax and sale invoices, tax credit and debit notes for all beverages imported and sold by the company.

The GRA also moved to collect similar documents from the company’s Lot 212 Regent and Oronoque Streets, Georgetown office and ordered that a stock inventory be made at the Charlestown and Ruimzeigt, West Coast Demerara Fidelity bonds.

GRA said checks revealed that the business had 72,556 cases of Polar beer while an audit showed that 119,353 cases had been delivered to suppliers, although information received from the GRA Total Revenue Integrated and Processing System (TRIPS) disclosed that Fidelity made an entry of 33,220 cases.