Case against Carville Duncan dismissed

A City Magistrate on Wednesday dismissed an almost GYD$1 million larceny charge against Carville Duncan.

Magistrate Leron Daly ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Duncan had stolen more than GYD$900,000 in director’s fees from the state-owned Guyana Power and Light.

Police had alleged that that on March 31, 2015 at Georgetown, he stole GYD$984,900, property of GPL. He was charged on January 26, 2016.

However, Defence Lawyer Glen Hanoman said the magistrate deemed that a photocopy of a Cabinet decision and oral testimony by former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds about discussions at a Cabinet meeting where the decision to pay Duncan were inadmissible.

Hanoman said the prosecution failed to prove that there was no authorisation for the payment to have been made to Duncan.

It is unclear what this now means for efforts by government to have him step aside as Chairman of the Public Service Commission.

President David Granger has already suspended Duncan from the Chairmanship of the Public Service Commission and member of the Police and Judicial Services Commission, after the Presidential Tribunal had begun hearings to consider his fate.

Duncan has since challenged the legality of the Tribunal in the High Court.