In a three-hour press conference on Friday, August 19, 2022, installed Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo declared that the Peoples’ Progressive Party (PPP), of which he is General Secretary, will not have its reputation sullied by Tamesh Jagmohan, Roger Khan, Azruddin Mohamed, who are embroiled in the Dion Bascom allegations of corruption involving actors within and outside the Guyana Police Force (GPF). He said the trio, two of which were “busy making money” during the last elections did not “beat the bush” like the ordinary people, and as a result “their concerns do not preoccupy me at night”.
Police Sargeant Dion Bascom in an explosively shocking and riveting Facebook live broadcast two weeks ago on August 8, 2022, made several damning allegations that top law enforcement officers in Guyana have been involved in corruption and the cover-up, concealing the actors and intellectual authors involved in the gunning down of businessman and biker Ricardo Fagundes who was a close associate of notorious convicted drug trafficker Roger Khan.
The Mohameds subsequently published a post on Facebook coinciding with a GPF press conference which sought to push back against the allegations that rocked the Force and the country since the revelations more than two weeks ago. In the post, the Mohameds said, “I want to focus on a gold dealer who is also a competitor – one who cannot live with himself and whose primary objective is to create mischief. His wickedness is beyond comprehension. He has written several letters to the various embassies accusing our family of being involved in terrorism and drugs.
I do not have to convince anyone about what I do for a living but just to note, all the relevant authorities including the Guyana Revenue Authority, CANU, and the Police are well aware of the drug dealers and their associates. This so-called gold dealer happens to be a close friend of the detective who recently came out with some damning revelations about coverups evidence in the murder of a friend of ours.” The “gold dealer” referenced in the post is understood to be Jagmohan.
VP Jagdeo in an effort to distance the scandal-plagued PPP from this latest debacle said, installed President Irfaan Ali has “a strong view” on the matter. “He has made it clear, he’s given directions to the Police Force to have a full and complete investigation, and with external support, with external support.”
This must come as a surprise to all parties involved since last Friday Sargeant Bascom, and Nigel Hughes, a Senior Partner of Hughes, Fields, and Stoby pushed back on the GPF’s assertions that Bascom’s allegations were “deliberate falsehoods and malicious in nature” while seeking the protection of the state through a request to the President Irfaan Ali which has not materialized to date.
Ali said he has not seen the request but would address his mind to it when he returned from Trinidad and Tobago, where he was heading at the time on a three-day state visit. However, the Top Cop in a statement last week said regarded Bascom’s statements as, “wholly unsubstantiated allegations, which have been given wide media coverage; alleging police misconduct in the ongoing investigation of the murder of Ricardo Fagundes.”
During his recent press conference, the former president said, “I’m General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, and there is one thing the People’s Progressive Party will not let happen it is to have its reputation sullied by any individual.” There have been calls for the VP himself to be investigated with external help after Vice News released a mini-documentary “Guyana For Sale” in which naturalized Chinese businessman Su Zhi Rong alleged the VP takes bribes. The businessman who was also a tenant of the VP at the time has since disappeared and the VP reported that he would sue for defamation when Su surfaces and could be served the court papers.
More, In The Ring.
