DPP Appeals Dismissal of Fraud Case Against Patterson, Adams
February 1 2025- The State has filed an appeal against the decision of Senior Magistrate Leron Daly to dismiss the
conspiracy to defraud charge against former Public Infrastructure Minister under the previous A
Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government, David Patterson.
The charge stemmed from a feasibility study for a new Demerara River bridge.
Rawlston Adams
Patterson and Rawlston Adams, the former General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge
Corporation (DHBC), had been accused of conspiring with each other and persons unknown, to
defraud the DHBC of $162,635,015 between November 18, 2016, and February 1, 2018.
On January 17, 2025, the magistrate at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts ruled that there
was no evidence of a fraudulent agreement between Patterson and Adam.
Accordingly, she found both of them not guilty
However, the State has since filed an appeal challenging the magistrate’s ruling. In a Notice of
Appeal filed with the Court of Appeal, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack,
SC, has requested to have the magistrate’s entire decision set aside and/or reversed.
The DPP is also seeking an order for Adams and Patterson to cover the costs of the appeal. The
appellate court is yet to set a date for the hearing of this matter.
Prosecutors claimed that they, along with unidentified individuals, improperly diverted funds
from the corporation’s Asphalt Plant account to finance a feasibility study and design project
for the new bridge—an expense reportedly beyond the DHBC’s mandate.
Following the public disclosure of the contract in 2017, the then Opposition People's
Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) called for a comprehensive investigation by the Public
Procurement Commission (PPC) into the awarding of the contract to the Dutch firm,
LievenseCSO.
The PPC then conducted an investigation into the Auditor General’s Report for the 2016 fiscal
year, which revealed that the then Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MoPI) had violated the
Procurement Act by awarding a contract to Dutch company in 2016, for a feasibility study and
design project for the new bridge.
The investigation found that the MoPI disregarded the National Procurement and Tender
Administration Board’s recommendation to retender the project. Instead, the ministry
proceeded with engaging the company to carry out the work.
The matter was later handed over to Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU)—an arm of the
Guyana Police Force (GPF).
Patterson’s ministry at the time defended the single-sourcing decision, stating that Cabinet was
involved in approving the selection of LievenseCSO and citing constraints related to the urgency
of completing the new bridge.
Patterson and Rawlston Adams, who were both represented by attorneys, had initially pleaded
not guilty to the charge. They had been released on cash bail pending their trial.
