Patterson/Adams plead not guilty to defrauding State of $160 million
The matter involving General Secretary of the Alliance for Change (AFC) and former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, and former General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC), Rawlston Adams has been adjourned to March 1, 2021, for the filing of witness statements.
The men made their second court appearance before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly this morning and pleaded not guilty to a joint fraud charge. They remain out on $200,000 bail each pending the hearing and determination of the trial.
The men pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that between November 18, 2016, and February 1, 2018, at Georgetown, they conspired together with each other and with other persons unknown to defraud the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation of $162,635,015.
The monies were from the account of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation Asphalt Plant and were for a project about a feasibility study and design for a new bridge across the Demerara River which was not a function of the said Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation.
In the circumstances, the Prosecution contends that the monies from the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation Asphalt Plant account could not be used to conduct the feasibility study and design.
Following an investigation by the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) into the Auditor General’s Report for the fiscal year 2016, it was revealed that the Public Infrastructure Ministry had breached the Procurement Act in awarding a contract in December 2016 to LievenseCSO for the feasibility study and design.
It was also found that the Ministry of Public Infrastructure did not heed the advice offered by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board to retender the project.
