Two of the persons named in a report into the remigrant vehicle scam said that all of their transactions with the ministries were above board and that they have gone to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) with a view to clearing their names.
Attorney-at-Law Glen Hanoman said yesterday that there was nothing bogus in anything concerning his duty-free letter. He said that he went to the GRA to clarify what he called inaccurate information published in another newspaper. He said that he would be returning to the GRA to submit some more documents. "Everything was above board," he said. "I owned the vehicle for longer than the [newspaper] said." Hanoman got a duty-free letter on August 8, 2003 for a Ford Excursion with a 7100 cc engine, which is said to be over the limit for duty-free concession, an issue he declined to comment on.
Although he put in his appearance to the GRA after the call that persons should come in, he said that the amnesty would not apply in his case since, according to him, there is no allegation of criminality. He said that after his visit to the GRA, things had been clarified.
The report also pointed out that a prospective remigrant has to apply for such status within three months of his or her resettlement in Guyana. It noted that concessions had been granted in violation of this requirement.
Noel Shewjattan, the proprietor of Auto Fashion, yesterday said that he never, in any way, tried to defraud the government of revenue. He is said to have imported a BMW (3000 cc) and he paid the 5% that his duty-free letter said that he must pay. However, the report done by a state auditor said that the 5% was only applicable for vehicles up to 2000 cc. If a vehicle exceeded 2000 cc the relevant duties had to be pro-rated and this was not done in his case. Shewjattan is contending that Customs should have calculated the duty and taxes pro rata.
He told Stabroek News that he went into the GRA and told the personnel there that he is willing to comply with all the requirements, since he did not know that he had to pay anything else. "I have no intention to defraud the government," he said. "I want them to tell me how I defrauded the government." He said that he had lived in the United States since 1989 and that he is now a citizen of that country. "I got my US citizenship in 1999," he said.
He added that the Licence Revenue Office registered the BMW and they would not have done that if documents were not presented to them.
Shewjattan said that the situation is causing him embarrassment and that he is willing to pay anything to be in compliance with the GRA. He said that it was frustrating for a returning Guyanese to be the subject of rumours of trying to defraud the state of revenue. "I never paid anybody or talked to anybody. I was granted the duty-free letter because I was entitled to it. This is Customs' problem; they should have calculated the rates [pro rata]," he said.
Meanwhile, the government stands to reap far more revenues if the defaulters in the remigrant vehicle scam are made to pay all the applicable fines in addition to the duty and taxes as might pertain under the amnesty.
Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur announced the amnesty from prosecution on Monday for a period of seven days. After that the 'remigrants' will face prosecution. Some of the fifty-plus vehicle owners have already gone to the GRA.
In other developments, Secretary to the Treasury (ST) Neermal Rekha is said to be considering legal action against his interdiction from duty as part of the probe. Rekha was sent home on Monday following instructions from the Office of the President.
One of the six vehicles given duty-free concessions despite exceeding the 4500 cc limit, is a Toyota Land Cruiser, which would normally attract a flat rate of US$14,500.
With that vehicle's price being quoted by manufacturers at US$54,000, the fine, to be paid to customs, at three times the value of the vehicle, would be US$162,000. The Purchase Tax, which is a combination of the flat rate and the price of the vehicle, would be US$68,500 and would also have to be paid to customs, bringing the total in fines and taxes to US$245,000 or $49M.
According to various manufacturers' websites, the asking price for the Lexus 470 starts at US$45,000, the Ford Excursion at US$38,000 and the Toyota Sequoia US$32,000.
However, the years of manufacture of the six vehicles range from 1998 to as late as 2003 so some of the cars may be valued at lower amounts than the list price.
The report states that Raymond Singh of Springlands, was on August 28, 2003, given an ST letter for one Toyota Land Cruiser with a capacity of 4700 cc. On that same date, Deoram Singh of Prashad Nagar, received approval from the Ministry of Finance for the duty-free importation of a Lexus 470 with 4700 cc while Vanessa Kartick of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara had an ST letter for a Toyota Sequoia with a cc of 4700. On August 29, 2003, Mohamed Ahaad Haqq of Meadow Bank, East Bank Demerara was granted an ST letter for a Lexus 470 similar to the one that Deoram Singh imported. That same day Aliya Nadine Yusuf of Subryanville received her duty-free letter for a Toyota Land Cruiser similar to that of Raymond Singh.
Police sources said yesterday that no charges had been laid against any of the officials and persons importing vehicles. A police source told Stabroek News yesterday that the GRA is examining all the documentation in the case from the ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs.
The police said that they are no way near to closing the investigation and are working along with the GRA, which is playing the lead role in the probe.
The probe is set to expand to dates before August 2003.
Meanwhile, the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) yesterday said that the Chamber is not involved in interviewing people when they go to the GRA in response to the amnesty. This is contrary to a report carried in Stabroek News on Wednesday.