Cops called in after ‘unusual activity’ between GuyOil staff and GDF personnel

Allegations of alleged unusual activity between GuyOil staff and Guyana Defence Force (GDF) personnel over fuel led to “appropriate” actions being taken and the matter is also being investigated by the police.

In a statement on Wednesday night, GuyOil did not say precisely what action had been taken but added that the state corporation suffered no loss from the fraudulent activity involving its staff and the GDF.

The statement from GuyOil follows what had purported to be an exchange between a GuyOil executive and a former senior government official which appeared to point to illegal transactions involving a prominent local company in the infrastructure sector.

GuyOil’s statement on Wednesday night debunked this purported exchange.

The statement from GuyOil said that at a virtual board meeting of the company in June this year, the Chief Executive Officer reported that a whistleblower report had brought to light alleged unusual activity between GuyOil staff and GDF personnel in 2020 and not 2018 as had been stated in the purported exchange.

The release said that internal investigations found the allegations to be “substantive” enough to warrant the involvement of the police and the Criminal Investigation Department is doing its own probe.

The GuyOil release said that “Following internal company investigations and according to due process procedures with identified staff members, appropriate action was taken, as transparency and accountability remain the overarching principles of GuyOil”.

On August 18, Minister of Public Infrastructure Juan Edghill told Stabroek News about the reports: “There is going to be an investigation. We started doing some preliminary work and it is a serious matter.”