GEA officers arrested for bribery over illegal fuel

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:01 by GxMedia

Four officers of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) were Tuesday in police custody for allegedly taking a total of GUY$1.5 million in bribes to avoid prosecution of persons in possession of illegal fuel.

Deputy Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud said the four male GEA fuel inspectors were arrested Monday afternoon after allegedly receiving the bribes.

In the first instance, they allegedly collected US$5,000 (estimated GUY$1 million) to turn a blind eye to two tanker trucks of unmarked fuel. Secondly, they collected GUY$500,000 to avoid prosecution of persons who were in possession of an unknown quantity of unmarked fuel.

Persaud said none of the GEA officers has admitted to the offences of accepting bribes.

The file is expected to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice.

Earlier this year, several GEA officers were fired after they failed lie-detector tests. A number of them have decided to challenge their dismissal in court.