Friday December 20, 2019
Kaieteur News
Chief Magistrate deems Leslie Veersammy incompetent to lead evidence as an expert - Fails to provide originals of certificates
Peter Ramcharran After given two weeks to provide the court with the certification of his profession, Leslie Veersammy, a co-manager of Nizam Ali and Company, yesterday failed to do so. This resulted in Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan deeming him incompetent to testify as an expert in the case of Former Accountant of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Peter Ramcharran. Ramcharran is to lead a defence in one of his trials. This is in relation to the five charges made out against him for the falsification of accounts. The defendant had opted to call two witnesses in his defence, Leslie Ve e r s a m m y a n d N i g e l H i n d s . Tw o w e e k s a g o Ve e r s a m m y s t a r t e d h i s testimony by mentioning his qualifications as an accountant. H o w e v e r, the magistrate stopped his testimony as she requested to see the original certificates of these qualifications so that she can be satisfied that he is an expert to testify in the matter. The case was then adjourned to provide the defence with enough time to gather this information for the court. According to the magistrate she was even prepared to take the certificates if there were in picture frames. Yesterday, Veersammy brought two documents to the court; he brought the membership certificate for the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants and a practising certificate. According to the witness, he was unable to bring his original certificates to the court as they are secured in a safety deposit box in a bank and he was so caught up over the past two weeks that he was unable to retrieve same. But this did not sit well with Chief Magistrate
McLennan. “The court is not satisfied that [Veersammy] is a Chartered Accountant because the court was not presented with such a certificate. There must be a foundation to show the basis on which you received a certificate to practice.” She added, “Based on the documents presented, the court is not satisfied that he is competent as an expert.” Nevertheless, the magistrate decided that she will take the evidence of the witness but in his testimony to the court he cannot speak as an expert because the court was not satisfied to that extent. During Veersammy’s testimony, the defence wanted to tender certain financial statements which also contained the auditor’s opinion of the said statements. These were the financial statements for GRDB between the years 2011 and 2015. Objections made by Special Prosecutor Patrice Henry, for these documents to be tendered, included the fact that audits presented for GRDB between the years 2011 and 2014 are not relevant as the present charge being addressed is specifically for 2015. He further objected under the Corporate Act that only the corporate secretary of a company should be the one to testify on behalf of the firm that is Nizam Ali and Company. M o r e o v e r, after perusing the documents presented the magistrate ruled that based on the role Veersammy plays as the management of that company, she is satisfied with the 2015 document being tendered as an exhibit to form part of the defence’s case. But she rejected the other documents citing that they are not relevant to the charge in question. At that point of the hearing, the matter was adjourned to December 23,
next for continuation of Veersammy’s testimony. The 39-year-old defendant is being represented by attorneyat-law, Sase Gunraj, while Special Prosecutor Henry, who is working for the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), is representing the state in this matter Ramcharran is facing 39 charges of fraudulent conversion and misappropriation, which allegedly took place between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2015. He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges which involved tens of millions of dollars. The total is said to be over $400M. There are 17 charges of keeping fraudulent accounts, 16 for fraudulent appropriation and five for the falsification of accounts. The trial for the falsification of accounts is before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. Magistrate McLennan recently ruled that there was sufficient evidence against the defendant in relation to the five charges and as such he is to lead a defence in the case. Ramcharran, of 32 Area ‘G’ Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara, was brought before the court after eluding the hearings for almost two years while in Canada. Ramcharran had first applied for refugee status. After he was turned down in December, he sought a review of his extradition process but this, too, was turned down. In 2017, the Chief Magistrate issued an arrest warrant for him. The GRDB found itself in the spotlight after a forensic audit of that entity revealed a number of “anomalies”, such as loans without proper paperwork or promissory notes.
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