Atlantic Fuels files contempt proceedings against GRA, GEA

Atlantic Fuels Inc (AFI) has filed contempt proceedings against the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) which had both been ordered by the High Court last month to pay in excess of $12 million in storage cost for 635,353 liters of diesel fuel they had seized from the fuel company.

AFI is seeking to have GRA’s Commissioner General Godfrey Statia and GEA’s Chief Executive Officer, Mahender Sharma; both jailed and fined for not obeying the court’s ruling.

Following her February 3rd, ruling, acting Chief Justice Roxane GeorgeWiltshire SC had ordered the two government agencies to immediately release the fuel and pay AFI the $12.8 million it accumulated in storage fees, owing to the seizure of its fuel.

The Chief Justice had ordered AFI’s main Director Dr. Richard Van WestCharles to be paid no later than March 29th.

With the payment still outstanding, however, AFI has now brought contempt proceedings.

GRA and GEA have both appealed

Justice George-Wiltshire’s ruling and had sought from the Court of Appeal, a stay of her judgment pending the determination of their appeal.

Justice of Appeal Rishi Persaud has, however, denied their application for the stay.

Through its attorney Siand Dhurjon, AFI in its contempt application is now seeking to have Statia and Sharma jailed for not obeying the Chief Justice’s ruling.

AFI is also seeking to have the two officials fined for being in contempt.

The fuel remains detained.

In addition to the storage cost, Justice George-Wiltshire had noted in her ruling that the Revenue Authority and Energy Agency will incur a further debt of $113,500 for every additional day they continue to detain the fuel.

AFI had taken the GRA and GEA to court over the seizure and detention of the fuel it had imported on November 1st, last year, which Dhurjon said is worth over $80,000,000 in resale value.

Following the ruling, Dhurjon said the Chief Justice had noted that with $20,000,000 in taxes and fees having already been paid to the GRA and GEA to facilitate the marking and release of the fuel, “it was difficult to see how revenue owed to the state could be lost,” as the respondents sought to contend.

According to Dhurjon, the Court agreed with his submissions that the respondents had no power under the law to hinder or impede the importation of the fuel.

When AFI attempted to import the fuel, the GEA wrote to Charles indicating that investigations revealed that the fuel was purchased from Staatsolie, a Surinamese Company, as opposed to Global Oil.

AFI said that GEA claimed to be in possession of an invoice from Staatsolie, which it said was materially different from the invoice submitted by AFI in terms of the purchaser, and the quantity of oil purchased.

As a consequence, the shipment of fuel was detained, and AFI was served with a summons to attend the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on January 4th on a charge of “causing to be made and subscribed a false declaration to the GRA” contrary to section 217(1) (a) of the Customs Act.

AFI had disputed making the alleged false declaration, while stating that even if a false declaration was made, that did not permit the detention of the fuel. Consequently, AFI asked the High Court to grant several orders including that the respondents be compelled to release the fuel.