By Elesha George
The Comptroller of the Customs and Excise Division has revealed he was forced to rethink his decision of working in Antigua and Barbuda after receiving death threats.
“I am not coward… If I have to die, I’ll die for the sake of the country, what better an honour there can be…to die for your country and the people you love,” said Raju Boddu.
Boddu, along with a customs investigative team, has been probing $3.2 million of revenue lost as a result of an alleged brokerage fraud. The broker, the department said, had been using someone else’s name to clear goods without exemptions.
According to the comptroller, the investigation has caused the public to question his allegiance to Antigua and Barbuda, claiming that some of his own workers have leaked internal information because of their personal misgivings.
“Everybody has an agenda here. They want to pursue their own agendas so they won’t hesitate to even assassinate somebody, character wise.
“They won’t hesitate to even physically kill if needed because there were threats that they are going to finish me and my family if I make [say] a word. I am not worried about all these threats but I’m talking about the hatred that is in the human man,” he told a press conference on Wednesday.
The comptroller also scolded sections of the media for what he believes is divisive and unconstructive criticism of the department’s internal affairs.
Boddu accused the media of not asking the right questions to the right people and of trying to “provoke” and “lure” him.
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