The UK expert said to a large extent, law enforcement and the judiciary are to be blamed for the high levels of corruption in Guyana and the wider Caribbean. This is so because it will only take a few good examples to be made out of corrupt officials to send a message that the crime would not be tolerated.
Dr. Stanislas said that the desired change will not be achieved unless the crime is no longer tolerated.
“Guyana needs to develop an attitude that if you steal from the country we (the law) will be coming after you,” said Dr. Stanislas.
Dr. Stanislas singled out Jeffery Archer, a former British Minister, famous author and wealthy businessman; Martha Stewart, successful business woman and entrepreneur; Conrad Black, former owner of British Daily Telegraph, and several famous hotels/businessman and asked what was the common thread.
Answer, “These are rich powerful people but they all spent time in jail; that tells us something about the country they come from.”
Dr. Stanislas said that Jeffery Archer was a personal and very close friend of Margret Archer but their friendship ended when Archer went down a not so clean path.
“These parts of the world are unlike the Caribbean where politicians associate themselves with criminals. When you go wrong, they will no longer send you a Christmas card, they will not go to your child’s christening and that is how it is supposed to be.”
He said that the politicians just do not associate themselves with criminals “so it is worse if the criminal is a politician.”
Dr. Stanislas then asked the symposium to name a few rich or powerful people who have been jailed in the Caribbean. There was silence, and then one man shouted, ‘Stanford!’
Robert Allen Stanford is an American former financier and sponsor of professional sports who is serving a 110-year federal prison sentence, having been convicted of charges that his investment company was a massive Ponzi scheme and fraud.
Though he is American he lived in Antigua before being jailed. That is where the mix up came. It was soon clarified that Stanford does not count as coming from the Caribbean and in any case it was America that brought him to justice.
Dr. Stanislas then asked the question again, “Can you name a powerful wealthy person in the Caribbean that served a sentence for fraud or corruption.” The silence returned until another man pointed to a case in Granada. It turns out that Granada is the only Caribbean jurisdiction that has jailed a rich white collar criminal.
Dr. Stanislas said that that speaks volume of the Caribbean system. “What is wrong with the Caribbean justice system and law enforcement? Dr. Stanislas said that it is the weakness in these institutions that is attracting the crime.
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