The chief executive officer of Ramps Logistics, Shaun Rampersaud, is due to return to a magistrate’s court on November 25, after he was released on half a million dollars (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents) bail on ten charges of false declarations made over the past two years to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Rampersaud pleaded not guilty to the charges when he appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly, and his attorney, Nigel Hughes, in his application for self-bail said his client has strong ties to Guyana and has an unblemished record.
He said his client does not pose a flight risk and returned on Thursday to defend the company’s name.
The GRA alleges that the logistics company which had originally been based in Trinidad and Tobago, had between 2021 and 2022, made ten false declarations on applications presented to a customs officer for tax exemptions on several items.
The court was told that Ramps falsely declared that it was the seller of items that included heavy-duty equipment, and chemical compounds, among others.
Media reports in Guyana said the case against Ramps Logistics followed the recent announcement by the company that it had filed a lawsuit against the government for the non-issuance of a local content certificate to operate in the oil and gas sector.
In its lawsuit, the company is contending that the state’s decision to deny its application for entry on the Local Content Register and non-issuance of the Certificate of Local Content Registration, is “unlawful, unreasonable and arbitrary.”
As a result, it is seeking several court orders, including an order compelling the Guyana government to issue the certificate and register it in the LCS.
The matter is expected to be heard before acting Chief Justice, Roxane George on November 11.
CMC/
