The Guyana Police Force says that a thorough investigation was launched in relation to an allegation that a Guyanese national was in possession of several fraudulently created birth certificates that were issued by a clerk attached to a regional office.
During the investigation, several persons were contacted and questioned. Notably, a 24-year-old Guyanese National was the subject of the investigation. During an interview, he related to the police that he had obtained his birth certificate via the late registration process, which was issued to him at the regional office.
However, he later devised a plan and falsely made representation to four individuals to obtain birth certificates for them at a cost of $20,000 cash (Guyana currency). Having collected the total sum of $80,000 from his victims, it was obvious that he was not in a position to hand over any birth certificates coupled with the fact that the victims threatened to report him to the police.
Therefore, the suspect offered to reimburse the money that he fraudulently obtained from his victims. A search was conducted at his premises, and the police found a number of documents, including a few birth certificates belonging to his immediate family members. These birth certificates were subsequently verified and found to be genuine.
In the meantime, the police questioned a staffer attached to the regional office, where applications for birth certificates are processed. The staff confirmed that the suspect had applied for his birth certificate via the legal channel, and at no time whatsoever did she issue any illegal birth certificates to the subject.
The police conducted further investigations, but there was no evidence to implicate the clerk in anything illegal. Further, investigators made strenuous efforts to contact the persons who were defrauded by the aforementioned subject. However, these efforts proved futile.
The GPF said it has taken note of a few “politically exposed persons with ulterior motives who have misrepresented the facts in this case”.
