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Grove/Diamond NDC anxious for closure in $20M-plus fraud
Officials of the Grove/Diamond Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) say that they are cooperating with police investigators and are eagerly awaiting the outcome of a major fraud probe.
Grove/Diamond NDC Chairman, Bharat Narine
Giving an update yesterday, NDC Chairman Bharat Narine disclosed that the council is anxious to bring the matter to closure.
“As you know we have made a complaint of a fraud involving several millions…in excess of $20M. Police investigators have visited the office and we are cooperating with them. I can tell you that the clerk involved has left the job. We are looking for this matter to be fully investigated.”
The fraud was uncovered by councillors in late February during routine checks It is believed that staffers, including one involved in collecting rates and taxes, allegedly hatched a scheme to steal the monies. The theft took place over a period of 18 months.
Using books similar to what the NDC has, the staffers reportedly issued receipts to unsuspecting residents of the Grove and Diamond areas. However, under tighter monitoring by the new NDC elected last year, checks by councillors reportedly uncovered anomalies with the serial numbers on the receipts.
The numbers printed on the receipts issued to a number of homeowners had them printed differently from what the NDC had.
Checks later made found that more than $20M did not make it into the NDC accounts over an 18-month period.
The fraud is a major blow to the work plan of the NDC which has jurisdiction over Grove, Samatta Point, Golden Grove and Diamond, on the East Bank of Demerara. The expansion of the Diamond and Golden Grove housing schemes has been putting a strain on the NDC.
It is not the first time that NDCs have been facing fraud investigations. A number of overseers in the past have been under investigation, but nothing much has come out of those probes.
With lax record-keeping and a seeming unwillingness to go after delinquent rates and taxes payers, many of the NDCs which were without elections for almost two decades pending law reforms, were in poor condition. However, elections last year have brought fresh faces.
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