Georgetown: Former Alliance for Change (AFC) Member of Parliament Charrandass Persaud is under investigation for alleged bribery and gold smuggling, Commissioner of Police Leslie James told reporters Friday morning.
“A report of alleged bribery and perhaps, some movement of gold from the State of Guyana,” is being investigated, the Top Cop said.
Commissioner James said “it is a sensitive matter,” and therefore, he could not
divulge much details of the investigation, as he note that it’s a matter of “national
security.”
Adding that at this point in time, the police are still gathering evidence, the commissioner said a few gold dealers were already called in to be interviewed since “there is corroboration.”
He said given what they have so far, there may be reasons
for them to speak with Mr. Persaud and if necessary they are “advised to seek
extradition, we will so do.” At the end
of their investigation, the file will be sent for legal advice.
The People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) is on record as saying that the
former AFC Member of Parliament was allegedly bribed by the opposition. Persaud
has since denied the allegations, although admitting to a dubious transaction
where he was attempting to purchase some US$1M in gold.
At a news conference on Thursday, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo sought again to distance his party from allegations that they bribed Persaud to vote for them, although one of his top advisers, Peter Ramsaroop, went so far as to breach security protocol at the Ogle Airport to spirit away Persaud one day after the vote.
Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan on Wednesday told a news conference at his party’s headquarters that he is not aware of any attempts or plan on the night of December 21 to harm Persaud after he voted in favour to topple the government. The Security Minister said that given the nature of the vote, he knew that had anything happened to Persaud, it would have reflected very badly on the government and as such, the necessary steps had to and were taken to provide security for him.
In a side interview, Ramjattan also denied having any knowledge of plans to harm Charrandass once he returns to Guyana, be it to answer charges or otherwise.
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