Gov’t furious about police removal of Foreign Minister’s laptop with classified info

Last Updated on Friday, 2 August 2024, 17:07 by Writer

Top officials of the Guyana government were Friday enraged by Guyana Police Force detectives’ removal of a laptop, with classified and sensitive information, assigned to Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd as part of their investigation into a cybercrime allegation against his executive assistant.

The accused person, Foreign Service Officer Sharmayne Balram, has since dispatched a lawyer’s letter to former government minister, Nigel Dharamlall, whose complaint to the police apparently triggered the probe including her arrest and seizure of the devices that were in her possession. Attorney-at-Law, Everton Singh-Lammy on Friday, August 2, warned Mr Dharamlall that legal action would taken against him if he did not desist from taking action that could prejudice the investigation. Mr Singh-Lammy told Mr Dharamlall that his “actions may amount to conspiring to procure the conviction of an innocent person and it smears my client’s good name.” Denying that Ms Balram ever engaged in action on or off social media to smear Mr Dharamlall’s name, the lawyer said his client would be demanding an apology after the police probe expectedly clears her of any wrongdoing.

The lawyer noted that Ms Balram had reported to the Information System Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a few weeks ago about
unusual activity that was occurring across her social media accounts and professional email account that might have caused information or those accounts to be compromised. The lawyer said that report was made before Mr Dharamlall’s communication of her “involvement”. A report was also made to the police in that regard, he said.

High-level government sources said the administration was furious at the manner in which police entered the Foreign Ministry, went to the minister’s secretariat, took possession of the devices that were in Ms Balram’s possession and transported her to the police without the courtesy or knowledge of the ministry.

Demerara Waves Online News was informed by multiple sources that Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken was informed about what had transpired and the implications for Guyana’s diplomatic relations and other related matters of the seized laptop being accessed by unauthorised persons. Another high-ranking police officer was also reportedly spoken to in harsh terms by senior government officials.

After Mr Hicken’s intervention, the laptop was promptly returned but government officials were yet to confirm whether any data was retrieved from the Foreign Minister’s laptop.

Head of the Police Force’s Criminal Investigations Department, Assistant Commissioner Wendell Blanhum on Friday did not respond to the question about whether sensitive national security and other highly confidential state data were removed or accessed from that device.

Mr Dharamlall earlier this week told Demerara Waves Online News that “further to a private investigation I undertook, information has come forth that allowed me” on July 31 to make a further report to the police alleging that Ms Balram “is suspected to be the person responsible for the creation and management of the Facebook account named “Shanaz Hussain” which had pursued a vicious vendetta against my good name, my former job and that of my family.”

A post on the Facebook profile of Shanaz Hussain states that, “for the record. Shanaz Hussain is in no way connected to Sharmayne Balram. I do not know the woman nor she me. Narcissistic Nigel Dharamlall is upset because Ms. Balram dumped him not so long ago I was told. ”

For her part, Ms Balram said she was profoundly disturbed, disgusted, and outraged by the baseless accusations being leveled against her by “disgraced” former Minister of Local Government, Nigel Dharamlall. “These fabricated claims are a direct assault on my character, my career, and my professional integrity,” she said.