“If you find corruption, then you find it…But just make all the forensic audit reports public.”
This call was issued by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo during a press conference held yesterday at his office on Church Street. There, the former President questioned why the government has been selective in the release of its forensic audit reports. “What do they have to hide?” Jagdeo asked.
The Opposition Leader lamented that the government has often accused the PPP about using the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) as a “parallel treasury.” The former President said that Guyanese must question why the government does not want to release the findings of this report that was completed over a year now.
The Opposition Leader also expressed disgust with the fact that the government is using the forensic audits to carry some Opposition members before the court but failing to make the document available to the defence of the accused.
Jagdeo said, “Look at the case they built against some of our Members of Parliament (MPs) using ostensibly, a forensic audit report into the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and then refusing to give it to the defense. The defense had to go to court to get an order for the report. (But when they got it,) most of it was redacted.”
The Opposition Leader continued, “What is so secret about these audits? What do you have to redact? If you find corruption, then you find it…it is as simple as that. Make all the forensic audit reports public. We have been saying this for a while…”
Jagdeo said, too, that if the audits are released, the citizenry would see the poor work that was done by “these so-called forensic auditors.”
It was in May 2015 that the Granger-led administration began expending millions of taxpayers’ dollars on 45 forensic audits to ascertain how the assets of the state were sold, disposed of or transferred under the previous administration.
Some of the firms contracted to conduct the forensic audits included Nigel Hinds Financial Service, Ram and Mc Rae and HLB Seebarran and Co. Chartered Accountant Anand Goolsarran along with Harryman Parmesar were also contracted to conduct several forensic audits.
Nigel Hinds Financial Service audited agencies such as the Guyana Oil Company Limited (Guyoil), the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) and the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest). Ram and McRae audited the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Guyana Gold Board and the E-Governance Project among others.
