The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) board is to consider the allegations made by Commissioner of Customs and Trade Administration (CTA), Lambert Marks, when it next meets.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, told reporters at a press conference yesterday that the board would examine the claims and address the issue of Marks’ "unusual behaviour."
A row between Commissioner-General of the GRA, Edgar Heyligar, and Marks erupted last week when the CTA commissioner made a statement that Heyligar, his superior, was interfering with his work and applying pressure on him.
Marks had told reporters he would later be heard from on issues such as overseas accounts and properties, and specific drug-related crimes. Luncheon had then asked Marks, after being directed by President Bharrat Jagdeo, to provide evidence of the allegations. He replied to Luncheon that his remarks were misinterpreted and that he would continue his pursuit to stamp out corruption and hoped that the facts would come to his attention.
This newspaper was told by a source close to the government that the administration considered the response by Marks to Luncheon’s letter weak and "embarrassing". The source said Marks was held in high regard by the administration, given his achievements in the past, but was sometimes seen as acting too hastily on sensitive issues. Heyligar described Marks’ outburst as unethical.
Marks was formerly the head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) before he took up the post of CTA commissioner two and a half years ago. One of his biggest achievements at the helm of CANU was the bust of the MV Danielsen, which unearthed 6,940 pounds of cocaine.
It was the biggest ever drug bust in Guyana.
Heyligar had ordered an investigation into the operations of the CTA and specifically into the importation of two containers belonging to a businessman said to have links with CTA.
The probe found that the containers were under-invoiced by $700,000. According to the law, the importer could settle internally with CTA or be prosecuted in the courts.
Marks had said he would stand up to scrutiny if any discrepancy was found and that he had requested the head of internal audit to make the findings public.
Deputy Commissioner of the CTA, Jameel Baksh, headed the investigation into the two containers, as instructed by Heyligar. Baksh’s position is below Marks and according to the rules of the Public Service Commission (PSC), in the case of discrepancies the investigator has to be at least one grade above the person being investigated. When the CTA was merged with the Inland Revenue Department to form the GRA, the PSC rules were still applicable. (Andrew Richards)