Payment vouchers tendered in Westford/Cummings theft trial
The trial of former PPP/C minister Dr Jennifer Westford and her former aide Margaret Cummings, who are charged with the theft of over $600 million from the government, continued last Wednesday, with further testimony from Alwayne Williams, the Accountant from the Ministry of the Presidency.
Williams testified that he had handed over twenty vouchers and memorandums to the police, during the initial stages of the investigations. He recounted in his testimony the dates, the captions, sum of monies requested, voucher number and the Bank of Guyana cheque number for the vouchers which were on the memorandums and payment vouchers, which were purportedly signed by Westford.
Williams said he would be able to identify the memorandums, since the former minister’s purported signatures are on them, as well as, the Public Service’s Ministry stamp, a letter head from the ministry, and his Permanent Secretary’s signature and stamp are all on the vouchers. The witness said that he is au fait with Westford’s signature since he had seen her sign in his presence before, and on many other documents.
Williams said the permanent secretaries at the time the vouchers were made out, were Nanda Gopaul and Omar Shariff. The witness testified that he is also au fait with their signatures since they had signed their names in his presence many of times.
During the witness’s testimony, the prosecution moved to tender twenty of the original payment vouchers, along with the memorandums to be tendered and marked as exhibits.
The matter was adjourned until March 2 for continuation.