Govt will not cover-up your misdeeds – Jagdeo as SOCU probes alleged crimes against Brutus

Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has assured that there will be no cover-up or tolerance of corruption in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) regardless of anyone’s relations with the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) or the Government.

“Let me make it clear…we support the Police Force, we support the leadership of the Police Force, we support them to do their work, but they must comply with the laws of this country. The PPP will not tolerate corruption in the Police Force or anywhere else and when we find corruption in the Police Force or anywhere else, there will be no attempt to cover it up,” Jagdeo said during his weekly media conference today.

“So if you believe you have a special relationship with the Government and that we will, pursuant to that relationship, cover up your misdeeds, you have it wrong, you don’t know the PPP,” he added.

The Vice President was at the time referring to the investigation into financial irregularities, linked to the GPF’s Credit Union, levelled against Deputy Commissioner of Police (ag) Calvin Brutus.

The investigation, which was launched in July by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), had widened after it was discovered that the senior cop had some $40 million in his bank account and those of close relatives.

Reports are that Brutus has claimed that the funds are wedding gifts.

The probe started in July this year and after months of investigation, SOCU on Wednesday said it has wrapped up its probe and has recommended dozens of charges against Brutus.

The files are with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice on the way forward.

But Brutus, who has been on administrative leave since July, has filed a motion in the High Court listing as respondents SOCU, the Attorney General, Ministry of Home Affairs, Police Service Commission, and Commissioner of Police (ag) Clifton Hicken. He is seeking to reverse certain decisions taken against him and claimed that the executive is influencing the investigation. Brutus is also contending that he has been victimised. He is also asking the court to declare that SOCU’s investigation has been “unlawfully and prematurely” conducted.

Today, Jagdeo said the PPP will be responding to this motion in court.

“If you did illegal things, you will face the consequences, from what all that I’ve read, a lot of wrong things took place, a lot of illegalities took place,” he noted.

He added that, “our affidavit…may not be beneficial to the particular individual because we will go into great details about what our findings were in the procurement system when he was heading the administration of the Police Force.”

Brutus is being represented by attorneys Earl Daniels, Yuborn Alicock, and Dominic Bess.

Jagdeo reminded that when this matter first surfaced, he had made it clear that there will be no cover-up.

Additionally, Jagdeo pointed out that the government has never sanctioned any policy whereby “private individuals and businessmen could pay for the birthdays and weddings of policemen or other public officials. In fact, we think it’s reprehensible.”