A report in the Express newspaper Wednesday said the the minister wrote to Gibbs on April 16, telling the commissioner that an audit has found several cases of corruption and fraudulent activities at the Licensing office. He advised Gibbs that the Fraud Squad has already been called in and shown certain relevant documents.
The paper said Maharaj confirmed that he wrote Gibbs but did not give further details, stating that he does not wish to compromise the invetigation.
However the minister noted that the racket is robbing the country of millions of dollars of potential revenue, the Express reported.
The Express also reported that it has obtained a copy of a memorandum with respect to the audit that was done in January. It said the document identified corrupt licensing officers involved in the illegal practices.
The report, according to the paper, stated that some foreign used dealers are involved in corrupt activities to avoid paying motor vehicle taxes and other fees relative to the importation of vehicles
"Bills of lading have been reused over and over for ghost vehicles without even changing the original information to make it apply to the ghost vehicles being declared," the paper quoted the report as stating.
"Dealers' invoices and Caricom invoices are either reused or falsified. Cancellation certificates are not authentic, forged or simply doctored before or after reaching this country," it added.
The paper said the report stated many Japanese vehicles would have been brought into the country "knocked down" or in parts, reassembled and sold as "roll on roll off" cars.
The paper quoted the analyst who prepared the report as stating that the team that did the audit has held three meetings with the Fraud Squad. It said the report concluded that "the extent of the corruption is enormous and steps must be implemented to curb delinquency. Errant officers must be disciplined for their involvement."
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