Benschop refused to give statement in alleged Mc Coy tape scandal.

President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday said Police Commissioner Henry Greene has informed him that Mark Benschop has refused to give a statement to the Police in their investigation on the tape conversation allegedly involving Kwame McCoy and a young boy.

The President had requested that the Commissioner carry out a full investigation into the matter while he was out of the country.

Briefing the media at the Guyana International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, Mr. Jagdeo disclosed that the Police have completed their investigations and according to Greene, only McCoy has given a statement to the law enforcement officials.

Commissioner Greene told the President that Benschop, who seems to be a strong advocate on the issue, refused to speak with the Police and the Police did not locate the young boy allegedly involved in the conversation.

“The report was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions and I think that the DPP has offered some advice that they must find the boy,” President Jagdeo said.

Mr. Jagdeo stressed that he thought the allegations were sufficiently serious to warrant a full Police investigation, and the officers have made their conclusions on the matter. He is expected to receive the report in the next few days.

“I followed a process. I would not have done this if I didn’t think that the allegations were serious, because I know that long before the Commission on the Rights of the Child was put together, people were campaigning against McCoy sitting there.

Responding to a question on given the seriousness of the allegation, if McCoy should have been sent on leave until the completion of the investigations, the President said McCoy went voluntarily on leave for two weeks and is still on leave.