Dear Editor,

In connection with an article captioned ‘Conned,’ which appeared in Kaieteur News of January 23, 2009, I wish to point out the following discrepancies:

I terminated my agreement with Mr Mohan and about eight other persons on July 5, 2008. I had a meeting with these persons and Alim Samad at my office on July 5, 2008.

Alim Samad was initially contracted to handle their cases for student visas. I told Mr Mohan and the others initially that I am in no position to handle their cases and that Alim Samad is the one who will do it for them. I signed a written contract with Mr Mohan and the others to protect them. I also signed a written agreement with Alim Samad for refunds if he is unsuccessful.

At that meeting with Mr Mohan, Alim Samad and the others, I told them I will be terminating my agreements with them and if they want they can get a full refund immediately. If they wanted, they can continue with Alim Samad and sign an agreement with Alim Samad and any fees paid will be transferred to Alim Samad. All of them except three persons said they will deal with Alim Samad. The three persons who said they wanted their refunds got them immediately. Mr Mohan and a few others declined a refund and said they will continue dealing with Alim Samad. Documents were prepared terminating my services, new agreements were signed with Alim Samad and fees were transferred to Alim Samad.

All of them looked happy dealing with Alim Samad after the signing of documents. They were warned not to visit my office any more or to contact me as I am no longer their representative.

When Mr Mohan called me in Canada saying that Alim Samad is demanding a further US$5,000 for his daughter’s medical, I advised him to only pay the money over in the presence of his lawyer or a plain clothes policeman. I never advised his daughter to pay Alim Samad any money or to trust him as stated in the KN article. They went ahead and paid Alim Samad in some restaurant without taking my advice.

A few weeks later he called me and asked me what to do; I advised him to report the matter to the police and also see his lawyer. He did contact his lawyer, but I do not know if he reported the matter to the police. I provided his lawyer with all the necessary documentation and explanations that he requested. Mr Mohan’s lawyer made many attempts to recover the money paid to Alim Samad but he was just given empty promises. According to Mr Mohan, Alim Samad had agreed to refund him but never showed up at his lawyer’s office after many promises to show up.

When I returned to Guyana in November 2008, I dispatched a letter to the Canadian High Commission about this matter. I also gave a statement to the police at Brickdam Police Station in connection with this matter and relating to the attack on my place in Georgetown.

These people should have taken their refunds when it was offered to them by me but they wanted to go ahead of their own free will to deal with Alim Samad.

I am attaching to this letter supporting documents to clear my name as I think I should have been given the opportunity to make my comments before Kaieteur News went ahead and published their article.

Please publish this letter to clear any misunderstandings the public may have on this issue.

Yours faithfully,
Balwant Persaud
Immigration Consultant