It is profoundly perplexing to my faculty of reasoning that there exist intellectuals and others who would so brazenly prostitute their supposed credibility in defence of an indicted, OFAC-sanctioned gold smuggler in Guyana, in such an unashamedly profanatory manner, as though the authorities are obliged to absolve the accused of all alleged crimes. Furthermore, a rational mind would find it exceedingly difficult to comprehend how these very so-called intellectuals, under different circumstances – had the alleged offences been attributed to an agent of the incumbent political party – would have upended the world with vociferous opposition, protests, and cries of corruption and illegality.
Having established this on unapologetic grounds, let us now contextualise the quantifiable magnitude of the financial crime under discussion, not to mention the related and unrelated transgressions.
Ten thousand kilograms of smuggled gold equates to 352,740 ounces. With the average price per ounce of gold between 2015 and 2019 standing at US$1400, this results in a staggering sum of US$494 million, or GY$105 billion. Consequently, the US$50 million owed in taxes represents a mere 10 per cent of that total. It is important to note that the royalty rate for large-scale mining operations is eight per cent. However, the calculation of the US$50 million (or GY$10 billion) omits corporate taxes, which are not included in this figure.
To further elucidate: this is no ordinary instance of smuggling. It is vast in its scope. Consider the following:
– Total declared gold exports in 2024 amounted to 434,067 ounces. This means that the volume of gold smuggled by a single entity over five years was equivalent to 81 per cent of the total declared gold exports for the entire country in a single year.
- – To offer additional perspective, GY$105 billion could finance two and a half Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River bridges.
- – It could fund ten years of “Because We Care” cash grants for schoolchildren.
- – It could cover three years of old age pensions for all pensioners.
- – It could construct 10,500 low-income houses – benefiting 10,000 families.
- – It could underwrite the cost of an entire year’s fuel consumption for the entire country.
- – This sum ($105B) equals approximately 7291 years of the Opposition Leader’s salary.
- This list is by no means exhaustive.