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Apr 23, 2021 News
Police Finance Department multi-million dollar fraud…
Kaieteur News – As the probe continues into the misappropriation of millions of dollars at the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Finance Department, several Superintendents were slapped with fraud charges.
Some of those officers who were recently charged include Deputy Commander of Division 4 ‘B’, Senior Superintendent Lorraine Saul; Police Finance Officer, Superintendent Marcelene Washington; former Deputy Finance Officer, Deputy Superintendent Frank Jackman-Wilburg; and former Deputy Finance Officer, Assistant Superintendent Roxanne Griffith-Adams.
The matters were called in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan. On the two occasions the matters were called, the court was informed that Saul and Washington are out of the jurisdiction.
On Wednesday last, the matter that involved Saul, Washington and Jackman-Wilburg was called. The trio was slapped with two joint conspiracies to commit felony charges, while Saul was slapped with two individual counts of falsification of accounts.
As Saul and Washington are not in the jurisdiction, the joint charges were read to Jackman-Wilburg. The charges were indictable, as such; he was not required to enter a plea.
The first charge alleges that Saul, Washington and Jackman-Wilburg between November 2, 2020 and December 3, 2020 at Guyana Police Force (GPF) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown, while being officers of the GPF, with intent to defraud, conspired with each other and other persons, to falsify a feeding account in the sum of $2.2M, to purportedly show that meals were provided to ranks who performed fixed point duties at Mounted Branch, between October 16, 2020 and October 31, 2020.
The second joint charge alleges that the trio on the same date and at the same location, while being officers of the GPF, with intent to defraud, they conspired with each other and other persons to falsify a feeding account in the sum of $1.4M to purportedly show that meals were provided to ranks who performed fixed point duties at the Suicide Helpline between October 16, 2020 and October 31, 2020.
Chief Magistrate, McLennan, placed Jackman-Wilburg on $150,000 bail and the matter was adjourned to May 14, 2021. On that date Saul and Washington are expected to appear in court.
Yesterday, in the same courtroom the matter that involved Saul, Washington and Griffith-Adams was called. This trio was slapped with one joint conspiracy to commit felony charge, and Saul was slapped with an individual falsification of account charge.
The charge was only read to Griffith-Adams, who was present in court. It is alleged that Saul, Washington and Griffith-Adams, between November 2, 2020 and November 24, 2020 at Guyana Police Force (GPF) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown, while being officers of the GPF, with intent to defraud, conspired with each other and other persons to falsify a feeding account in the sum of $1.1M, to purportedly show that meals were provided to Officers and Inspectors of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) who performed fixed point duty at the Unit from October 16 to October 31, 2020.
That charge was also deemed indictable and Griffith-Adams was not required to enter a plea. Chief Magistrate, McLennan, placed her on $150,000 bail and that matter was also adjourned to May 14, 2021.
The charges were brought against the Superintendents by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), an arm of the GPF.
According to reports, Saul was stationed at the Felix Austin Police College Mess, as the officer-in-charge, and on the dates mentioned in the charges, she created feeding accounts for ranks that were performing fixed point duties.
It is alleged that the accounts that Saul prepared were for duties that never existed. It is further alleged that, Saul conspired with Washington, Jackman-Wilburg and Griffith-Adams, who approved and processed the accounts at the Police Finance Department.
Last year, an investigation was launched into the alleged misappropriation of over $150M from the Police Finance Department. The probe was carried out by SOCU and resulted in several senior officials either being sent on leave or relocated. To date, several Superintendents were slapped with fraud charges and placed before the court.
On April 13, 2021, Saul and Officer-in-Charge at the Police Finance Department (Ag.), Assistant Superintendent Kurt Smith, were charged for falsifying over $1M in meals payment. However, since then the court was informed that Saul is out of the jurisdiction.
Saul and Smith were slapped with two joint charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and Saul was charged additionally for two counts of falsification of accounts.
According to reports, Saul was also the officer-in-charge of the Brickdam Police Station’s Other Ranks Mess, before she was moved. In this matter, Saul was charged for allegedly inflating and creating fake meals payment accounts for meals provided by the Mess for reimbursement at the Police Finance Department.
In the first charge, Saul allegedly created a meals payment account for $1,350,000. This was supposed to be for a training session but none had occurred. On the latter charge, she reportedly inflated the number of ranks and number of meals in the sum of $465,000.
Smith was charged for allegedly conspiring with Saul to defraud and to authorise the payments of the accounts – one which never existed and one which was inflated.
Meanwhile, on March 26, 2021, former Assistant Commissioner of Police Kevin Adonis, of Lot 95 Stewartville, West Bank Demerara; Rawle Haynes of Hydronie, East Bank Essequibo; Jermaine Fraser of 4116 Phase One West Minster, West Bank Demerara, and Michael Corbin of 315 First Avenue, La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, made their first court appearance after they were slapped with a $19M fraud charge.
It was also reported that last year, Corbin and Fraser were slapped with 21 fraud charges, which amounted to a total sum of $11,385,000. They had appeared before Principal Magistrate, Faith McGusty, in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts and were placed on $250,000 bail each.
It is alleged that the duo, on April 4, 2019, at Eve Leary, Georgetown, while being employed as a clerk or servant at the GPF’s Finance Office, with intent to defraud, they willfully made false entries into the accounts of their employer.
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