More than two years after he was hauled before the courts, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Kurt Smith was on Wednesday slapped with six additional charges of misconduct in public office.
This time, Smith is accused of signing contracts on behalf of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs for repairs of several police building while he was the officer-in-charge of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Finance Department.
Smith, who was interdicted from duty, appeared before Magistrate Dylon Bess at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
He was not required to enter a plea and was placed on $100,000 bail for each count.
The charges were laid by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
According to SOCU, the charges stemmed from a report made by the GPF and an investigation was launched.
During the probe, SOCU said it discovered that during the month of December to February 2022, six contracts amounting to the sum of $9, 717, 525 were awarded to various contractors to do repair works on several police buildings.
The contracts, SOCU said, were prepared and sent to Smith for verification and for onward transmission to the Permanent Secretary to be signed.
However, according to SOCU, Smith allegedly signed for the Permanent Secretary in the slot allotted for the accounting officer.
“The PS (Permanent Secretary) of Home Affairs was contacted and she clearly stated she never delegated her responsibility to the Finance Officer of the Guyana Police Force,” SOCU noted.
Back in April 2021, Smith who was then a Superintendent of Police, was charged alongside another rank, Loraine Saul in connection with a multimillion-dollar fraud committed in the Police Finance Department.
They were accused of conspiring with others while being officers of the Guyana Police Force, to falsify a payment account to sum $1,350,000 to show that meals were supplied to ranks of the riot unit between December 18 and 28, 2020.
The two senior officers also denied that during the same period, they conspired with other persons to falsify another payment in the sum $465,000.
They were released on $200,000 each.
