Education Officials Want probe Into suspected fraud.

EDUCATION OFFICIALS WANT AN AUDIT OF SPENDING OVER A FIVE-YEAR
PERIOD in Essequibo Islands/West Demerara (Region Three) suspecting fraud.
Speaking only on conditions of anonymity, a number of officials formerly linked to the Region
Three learning sector said between 2016 and 2020 more than $5M were bilked monthly from the
education sector treasury by corrupt transactions.
“The invoice that was submitted every month for the past few years saw the Education
Department being over-billed by some $5M. What is sad, is that even though we have raised this
issue, nothing has been done thus far. As such, we are hoping that the (new) government looks
into this matter urgently if they are genuinely serious about ending corruption. They need to take
appropriate action against those that have been involved in this,” the senior official said.
A leading suspect implicated in the massive spoofing of figures is Mr. Denis Jaikaran, former
Regional Executive Officer (REO) of the heavily agriculture-dependent Region, who some insist
was the mastermind behind the five-year fraud.
Jaikarran, some claimed, resorted to pressure tactics and/or penalizing anyone he thought was
going to blow the whistle. This had a chilling effect among staff.
Those with knowledge of what happened, said the Region Three sector lost millions through fake
and heavily-padded invoices. They security firm hired to protect education infrastructure was
also part of the five-year-long scan officials told www.aroundtheregions.com.
They want the Auditor General’s Office to launch a thorough probe.

“This was a full-blown racket and we are confident that if an investigation is carried out,
(former) REO Denis Jaikaran and also (his immediate replacement) Jennifer Ferreira-Dougal
will find themselves facing criminal charges,” the former education officials of the Region said.
They said, “after REO Jaikaran was transferred, this very matter was raised by us with (new)
REO Ferreira-Dougal who at first was reluctant to look into it, but shortly before the APNUAFC
administration changed, she had spoken seriously to Mr. Linden Forbes Fowler about the matter
who had denied all allegations.”
In a previous interview Sentinel Security Supervisor, Fowler was adamant that former Permanent
Secretary (PS) Mr. Emil M c Garrel, former Minister of Communities, Mr. Ronald Bulkhan, and
Jaikarran, set every clause in the security contract.
“We (Sentinel) were not the ones who drafted the contract, we received the contract from the
then REO and we operated accordingly to what the contract stipulated. So, all this talk and
allegations seeking to blame us is a waste of time,” an outraged Fowler had informed
www.aroundtheregions.com.
Quizzed on their sudden resort to the AG’s office, they admitted fearing dismissals and opted to
remain mum.
However, they backed up their claims with a copy of a report on an investigation with copies of
invoices displaying suspected discrepancies in figures submitted before August 2020 and after
August 2020 for guarding the identical number of school buildings.
“This is corruption and anybody looking into it doesn’t have to go far as its evident what really
took place. We want the AG to investigate so that closure could be brought as to why the
students, residents and the education sector didn’t benefit fully because millions were schemed
off for a few to benefit solely,” the officials reiterated.