The board of directors of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has decided that some hard decisions would have to be made to address the apparent rift between the Commissioner-General of GRA, Edgar Heyligar, and the Commissioner of the Customs and Trade Administration (CTA), Lambert Marks.
Sources close to the GRA told Stabroek News that the matter had to be addressed, given the situation, and decisive action taken.
Marks launched a public stinging attack on Heyligar last month, accusing Heyligar of interfering with his work. Heyligar had ordered a probe into the importation of several containers by a businessman who other importers contended received preferential treatment from CTA.
The investigation into one shipment of two containers revealed that the goods were undervalued by $700,000 which resulted in an understatement of the taxes due.
Another shipment of 17 containers was also investigated and the report handed in to Heyligar on Wednesday last week. When contacted by Stabroek News on the outcome of the probe, Heyligar said it was an internal matter and he would not comment since it was no business of the press.
Marks had told reporters that he was being targeted because he made enemies when he personally intervened to oversee the Valuation Unit of CTA in April and the examination of shipments at the wharves.
He said he had done this in his effort to plug revenue leaks in the areas of under-invoicing, false declaration, local consumption tax, and smuggling.
The investigations were launched after some importers complained to Heyligar of the difficult time they were having processing their shipments while a particular businessman’s shipments were processed expeditiously.