Govt poised to clear Shamir Ally for Kuwait Ambassadorship

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 November 2016, 12:17 by Denis Chabrol

Ambassador-designate to Kuwait, Shamir Ally presenting a publication to President David Granger. Partly hidden is Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge.

The way is almost clear for Guyana’s Ambassador-designate to Kuwait, Dr. Shamir Ally to present his credentials to authorities there, now that Georgetown has almost finished its probe into his past legal troubles in the United States (US).

Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge said Saturday that the probe into Ally’s past legal woes with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been completed.

“Yes, unless something untoward occurs ,” when asked whether Ally is likely to take up the ambassadorial appointment.  The Foreign Minister confirmed that Ally was yet to complete the accreditation process in Kuwait because of the ongoing work on the issue.

The Foreign Minister said Cabinet has already held one round of talks on the findings and is expected to have a second round.

Back in September, 2016 word surfaced that Ally had been fined several years ago by the SEC, a disclosure that  had caught the government by surprise because he had never disclosed his run-in with that regulatory agency.

The Guyana government had also not known about that during its background check and interviews with its foreign envoys.

The Alliance For Change (AFC), a political party f0r which Ally is an executive member and financier, days later in September said he had never knowingly engaged in fraud in the US.

Ally said rather that going through a lengthy and costly trial, he and the other company officials had received legal advice to pay a US$10,000 fine without guilt. “We must reiterate that contrary to recent media reports, Dr. Shamir Ally was charged and required to pay a penalty by the SEC.  He was not convicted of a crime,” the AFC added.

The AFC has said that Ally’s July 2000 termination ruled out his ability to access the accounting records which would have enabled him to substantially rebut the SEC’s 2002 charge.

The SEC states that Ally directed that unsupported journal entries be made to the cost of sales and inventory accounts to bring Acrodyne’s financial statements in line with the gross margin percentage he had estimated for period.  The Commission claimed that Acrodyne’s former President and CEO, Robert Mancuso approved these fraudulent adjustments for the first quarter of 2000.

The company’s President A. Robert Mancuso had asked Ally to help turn around the company as they were preparing to manufacture Digital Television Transmitters for Television Stations, converting from analogue to digital systems.

The Commission’s complaint alleged that the defendants were involved in the dissemination of false financial information by Acrodyne Communications, Inc.  in press releases and Commission filings in 1998, 1999 and 2000. The Commission alleged that Mancuso (Acrodyne’s former CEO and president), Lanchoney (Acrodyne’s former CFO), and Ally (Acrodyne’s former controller) were aware of numerous and significant problems with Acrodyne’s accounting controls, but failed to assure that Acrodyne’s financial transactions were accurately recorded.