Dear Editor,
Public discussions about crime often focus on homicide, domestic violence, robberies, drug trafficking, etc. Less attention is given to more lucrative crimes like gold smuggling and looting money from the state through ‘legal means’ as in contracting. Tens of billions are stolen from state funds and hundreds of billions in gold are smuggled out. Contracts are steered to certain companies, friends, families, favored ones, some tied to money laundering and other aspects of corruption. The financial system enables and protects criminal activities of officials and their contacts, contractors, family members, friends, and even their own companies under names of others. Money laundering takes place through the banking system and through businesses; they are financial crimes, but government does not go after launderers who wash money for officials and others.
The launderers should take note that laundering money has high rates of return but comes with serious risk; launderers were known to be erased without many questions asked and without the public or families knowing the launderers were murdered. The murder takes place cleverly.
Several individuals from overseas, using registered businesses but which actually hardly conduct any real value business, are involved in laundering money for ranking officials. They was dirty ill gotten money into clean money. The washers are in Miami, Toronto, London, New York, China, Middle East. One recently died at a posh hotel and is believed to have been killed from pill poisoning over dispute of a large amount of money; his heart exploded.
Criminals and their corrupt business organizations can transform illicit money into seemingly legitimate wealth. Ranking officials use their services as it is too risky for officials or the corrupt to take money abroad without explanation of its source. This is where launderers play an important role. The launderers use shell companies, real estate investments, trade-based schemes, and corrupt financial networks. The illegal proceeds are integrated into the formal economy. This process allows officials and other white collar criminals, operating businesses in Guyana and overseas, to earn revenues, expand operations, and strengthen influence with government and the public. Laundered funds are used to corrupt the entire system of governance including bribing bureaucrats and civil servants. When exposed, the state hires people to go after media houses and journalists who don’t compromise their integrity. There are several rats on government payroll going after corruption busters.
The equivalent of hundreds of millions of American dollars was pilfered annually from state contracts in recent years. A quarter of every budget is siphoned off not only under this regime but its predecessor also. More was looted over the last five years than the preceding five years. For current year, some $319 billions have been siphoned off through contracting and other fraudulent measures. Some of the loot is re-invested in Guyana in mining, real estate, equipment, doing other business while the rest is sent abroad through business linkages for investment in real estate including in USA and Canada. Some of the loot is kept in China and the Middle East like Qatar , Dubai, Saudi Arabia. Gold and other precious metals are bought and sold, exported overseas to wash money; also, other products from Guyana are exported and money, much more than the value of the goods, pass hands; in this way, money obtained from illicit activities is washed. Guyanese businesses in North America and in Panama, Barbados, Bahamas, etc. facilitate the washing of loot pilfered from the treasury through contracting.
The public is deprived of tens of billions of dollars from corruption involved a handful of officials. The billions stolen deprive the adult public of over $500,000 in cash grants annually. A few officials and business partners become super wealthy at home and abroad while poverty increases.
Laundering money comes with risk. Lives are also lost especially if the launderer attempts to ‘rob’ those for whom he launders money; officials won’t allow a launderer to cheat them. And those who expose corruption from civic society and journalists are targeted. Corruption results in increasing poverty and threat to public safety. Effective anti-money-laundering measures are critical to disrupt corruption to protect the public. Government should target financial networks that sustain money laundering. Asking foreign governments like USA, Canada,UK, etc. to go after launderers, seize their ill gotten proceeds, is an effective way to put launderers out of business and stop officials from benefiting from corruption.
Sincerely,
Name Withheld
(for N Barton)
