Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 10, 2015 News
The discovery of a Lexus LX 570 Sport Utility Vehicle with false licence plate has led investigators to a suspected racket involving the issuing of re-migrant status to unqualified persons. The fake re-migrant would import high end vehicles and then resell them for millions of dollars.
Kaieteur News understands that investigators from the Police Force as well as the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), are reportedly zeroing in on a 49-year-old Canadian-based Guyanese woman who had imported the vehicle under the re-migrant scheme and in whose name it is registered.
Up to yesterday, the vehicle was still impounded in the Brickdam Police Station compound.
Acting commander of the Police ‘A’ Division, Senior Superintendent Rishi Das when contacted yesterday for an update on the investigations, told this newspaper that the matter is being dealt with by the GRA.
Based on information gathered so far, the scheme involves several players, including auto dealers and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with possible collaboration from individuals at the GRA.
A source at the GRA explained that importers would usually use Guyanese residing abroad to import high-end vehicle through the re-migrant scheme, in order to avoid paying the usually high duties these vehicle attract.
The person would apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for re-migrant status, although that person has no real intention of re-migrating to Guyana.
Of course, the sole purpose of obtaining the status is to access the duty free arrangement, in order to import a high end vehicle on behalf of the importer.
Investigations so far have revealed that the Canadian-based woman in whose name the impounded Lexus LX 570 was registered was working closely with one such importer.
“We are hearing that they paid her passage to come to Guyana to apply for the remigrant status. They then used her to import the vehicle,” the source said.
This newspaper was reliably informed that the woman, a mother of two, whose local address was listed as Sand Reef, Albion, Corentyne, Berbice was paid US$5000 by the importer to bring in the vehicle in her name.
Checks for the woman at her Albion address were futile.
According to the source, the woman only spent a few days in Guyana to facilitate the transaction before heading back to Canada.
A neighbour of the woman’s Albion address told this newspaper that the woman was indeed in Guyana recently but disappeared after a brief stay.
“She does only pop in and gone. I hear she bring in a fancy vehicle and she de lookin fuh a sale,” the neighbour said.
The vehicle was seized from a residence in Prashad Nagar after the authorities established that the number on the vehicle actually belonged to a car. The driver at the time was briefly detained.
Investigators are checking to see how many such vehicles were imported into the country in similar manner.
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