Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 04, 2017 News
– over $17B handled in two-month period
The police have for several months now been investigating embattled gold dealer,
Saddiqi ‘Bobby’ Rasul, for allegedly being involved in money-laundering activities.
His alleged actions have also brought into sharp focus his dealings with the Guyana Gold Board and possible collusion with staffers there. There were apparently warning signs that something was amiss but the transactions, involving billions of dollars, were never questioned by the Gold Board.
Rasul, owner of SSS Mineral, a company licensed to buy gold; and R. Mining, which is his mining outfit, made the news last week after a $956M fraud was discovered at the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, in Bartica, Region Seven.
The female manager of the bank was sent home and Rasul arrested last Friday after GBTI filed a police complaint. The businessman was slapped with six charges of obtaining money by false pretence. He could face more.
One of the biggest gold dealers in Guyana, he appeared in court yesterday and was placed on $3M bail having been slapped with six counts of fraud — $500,000 on each count. A wanted bulletin is likely to be issued for the bank manager.
According to top police officials, based on complaints, investigators placed Rasul under the microscope after what appeared to be evidence that was provided by a whistleblower. It was alleged that the gold dealer had no credit facilities at any bank, but started purchasing gold, purportedly from miners, in large quantities in 2014, sometimes even paying more than $10,000 above other dealers for one ounce of the yellow material. This caused raised eyebrows by others in the trade.
Brazilian miners were apparently targeted for the gold.
Officials said that it was explained that scam occurred when instead of using his gold dealing company, Rasul allegedly sold the gold to the Gold Board via his mining company. This was passed as mined gold.
Sometimes the transactions occurred multiple times daily via R. Mining, according to documents seen by Kaieteur News.
According to officials, where Rasul allegedly made a killing was when he only paid the five percent royalties that are applicable to mining companies. Gold dealers are made to pay not only the royalties but also a two percent tax, making it a total of seven percent.
It was pointed out that it is highly unusual for any mining company to have several wash-downs daily, unless they are large scale in nature. There are only two large scale mining companies in Guyana – Troy Resources and Guyana Goldfields.
Investigators reportedly had details of banking records to support the money laundering complaint against Rasul.
It was alleged that in two months alone, Rasul’s companies deposited and withdrew $17B. Sometimes there were as many as seven withdrawals in one day, some totalling $180 million. Two percent of that in taxes would come up to over $200M.
Investigators would also be probing whether Rasul benefitted from collusion with Gold Board staffers, some of them high ranking, and may have issued instructions for the Bartica office to pay the higher of two daily fixes.
It was explained that the Gold Board would under an established system, lock in prices based on the market prices overseas. This meant that prices could fall or rise within a day.
The complaint alleged that US authorities, like Homeland Security and the FBI, may have had an interest in Rasul as far back as 2014 and early 2015 for gold exported to the country.
Gold has been one of the biggest foreign currency earners for Guyana within the last decade or so. However, the benefits to the economy, which has been slowed somewhat in recent years, has been overshadowed by reports of smuggling and deadly accidents in the mining areas.
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