Miners interviewed as Police continue investigations against Charrandass Persaud

Several gold miners have been interviewed as the investigation into allegations of bribery and movement of gold by former Parliamentarian Charrandass Persaud continues.

This was confirmed by Commissioner of Police Leslie James during an interview on the sidelines of an event on Monday morning.

The Top Cop refused to disclose whether any Members of Parliament were interviewed but again denied claims that the investigation was as a result of political instructions.

“The Minister (of Public Security) has not given me an instruction. Something was brought to my attention by the Minister and based on that, an investigation ensued,” Police Commissioner James said.

In fact, the Commissioner said he does not receive and will not take political instructions.

“I don’t receive instructions, political instructions. I must say that very clear. I do not receive or I will not yield to political instructions,” the Top Cop told the media.

It was reported that one affiliate of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was questioned by senior police detectives at the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters, Eve Leary in relation to the investigation.

Persaud fled to Canada on December 22, 2018, hours after he defected and voted against his own Government on December 21 when the opposition brought a No Confidence motion against the Government.

Persaud was subsequently expelled from the AFC, of which he was a member.

A snippet of a conversation between a number purportedly belonging to Persaud and a gold dealer later surfaced, in which the Former MP is said to be negotiating the purchase of over US$1M in gold.

While the Commissioner had confirmed that there was a plan to purchase gold and this sparked the investigation, he could not say whether the deal went through or money was paid.

In January, the Commissioner revealed that Charrandass will be extradited to Guyana if the need arises.