The dramatic action came amid a deepening probe over fraud in the duty-free scheme for remigrants and a day after a report in this newspaper which said that more than half of the documents under scrutiny were found to be bogus.

A release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said that the report into the probe was handed over to the President by the Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Khurshid Sattaur and addressed duty-free concessions granted to 86 remigrants in August, 2003.

Only 31 of these concessions satisfied the requisite criteria and the report "identified a series of deliberate acts by public officers who violated criteria" for the granting of same, GINA said. The report also found that there was negligence by other public officers in the authorising of the concessions.

As a result, the President issued three directives:

1) That the report be submitted to the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecu-tions and the Office of the Auditor General;

2) That all vehicles granted concessions under questionable circumstances be seized;

3) That the probe of the scam be extended to the period before August, 2003.

Meanwhile, the Police said that they are continuing to investigate the fraudulent issuing of duty-free letters and indicated that although persons have been interdicted from duty, it is too soon to determine whether any of them will be charged.

So far, two persons said to be clerks from the Ministry of Finance have been sent home pending the outcome of the Police investigation. Stabroek News understands that a third person, a supervisor, is still on the job at that ministry.

The person from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the centre of the investigation there was still on the job up to yesterday. This worker is said to have been close to the remigrant scam.

A Police source yesterday confirmed that persons from both ministries have been questioned. According to sources, criminal charges are likely to follow at the end of the probe.

When contacted yesterday, Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Elizabeth Harper told Stabroek News: "We have tightened the administrative processes [for remigrant applicants] and are working in collaboration with the other agencies involved." She said that she wished to be prudent and would not attempt to pre-empt the outcome of the Police investigations. Harper said too that she does not envisage the new procedures being implemented affecting the length of time it takes for genuine applications to be processed.

Stabroek News understands that for the concession to be granted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepares letters determining who is a remigrant and this is done on a stencil form with an accompanying carbon copy. The Minister of Foreign Affairs signs the original and carbon copy and the original is retained on file while the carbon copy is sent to the Ministry of Finance with supporting documents on each person's individual items eligible for treatment of duty-free status.

Stabroek News understands that the fraud involved the skilful insertion of fake signatures on those documents, which are then photocopied and sent to Neermal Rekha, the Secretary to the Treasury (ST) at the Ministry of Finance.

On December 28 last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it had processed 172 remigrant applications for 2003 and is satisfied that its records are properly kept and all of its operational procedures are adequate.

Early in the investigation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had sought to absolve itself from any wrongdoing by outlining the process through which applicants for remigrant status were approved. It said in its press release that it is only responsible for the certifying of persons' eligibility for the status of remigrant. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said too that it has no authority to pronounce on the concessions to be granted to remigrants, nor does it have any mandate to issue letters for duty-free concessions pertaining to applicants' personal effects. Prior to September 1 last year, this was the job of the ST.

According to the release, all prospective remigrants have to visit the MFA offices to establish their remigrant status and they are required to present the following:

a. passports - current and previous, in the case where the current passport was issued for less than four years;

b. certified copies of annual income tax declarations for each of the four years that the remigrant was working overseas.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said too that upon the examination of the documents provided, it would determine the eligibility of the applicant's remigrant status. Once the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has certified the status, with the issuance of a letter, the applicant is required to visit the Ministry of Finance and provide the following:

a. a list of the items to be brought in;

b. information on the year, model and engine capacity of the motor vehicle for which the concession is being sought and evidence of ownership of that vehicle for a minimum of six months;

c. a declaration by the applicant that the list provided is a complete list for which the concession is being sought and that such items are for personal and domestic use and are not for sale or exchange. They must also swear that they have never had duty-free concessions before.