Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Secretary Anand Sanasie was yesterday formally charged with perjury, for allegedly falsifying an affidavit that was part of a High Court case.
Sanasie, 46, of Area ‘G’ Patentia, West Bank Deme-rara, was granted $150,000 bail by Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton, at his arraignment at the George-town Magistrates’ Court. He had been charged on Monday by police and released on station bail.
It is alleged that on January 30, at Georgetown, being the deponent in an affidavit for an injunction for damages and an order in the High Court of the Supreme Court of Judicature, Sanasie knowingly, falsely swore that the assets of the GCB were in his trust, well knowing the said assets were transferred to the DEB Essential Organisation Incorporated.
Sanasie, who was not required to plead to the indictable perjury charge, had been the petitioner in the High Court case, while Attorney General Anil Nandlall, Clive Lloyd and Alfred King were the defendants.
His lawyer, Sanjeev Datadin, yesterday maintained that his client had done nothing unlawful in his capacity as GCB Secretary. He said Sanasie at no time made any utterances he should not have, including anything that could be considered to be beyond his capacity as Secretary nor did he do so without appropriate legal advice.
According to Datadin, the police commenced their investigations against his client from proceedings into an affidavit filed in the High Court, during which time they ordered the accused to make regular reports to the police station. His client complied with the order, he noted. The affidavit, the lawyer noted, was concerned with the government causing an “intrusion into the homes” of several employees of the GCB, two of whom have since resigned.
On Monday, Datadin said, Sanasie was followed by Special-Branch forces and he was subsequently arrested and placed on $100,000 station bail. The lawyer pointed out that initially his client was aware that he was being followed by persons but he did not know whether it was the police or other persons trailing him and he was concerned for his safety.
Datadin requested reasonable bail, while noting that Sanasie is a father of three with a fixed place of abode. The lawyer also noted that his client is a businessman with vast investments in the Kingston area.
Police Sergeant Alexis David-Hosannah indicated to the court that the prosecution had no objection to the accused being admitted to bail but she requested that it be set in a substantial sum. Sanasie was later informed that he would be sent on $150,000 bail. The case will be called again on July 26.
Datadin, in an interview with Stabroek Sport on Monday night, explained that Sanasie, in an affidavit, listed the items in the office of the GCB. He said that the police were contending that at the time he swore in the affidavit, the information was false because the GCB did not own the items, DEB Essentials did. Datadin is arguing that there is “vast separation” between ownership and custody.
He said Sanasie swearing that ”…I have in my custody the following items which are the office equipment…” and listing the items did not mean that Sanasie owned the items. He suggested that what Sanasie was in fact saying was that he was responsible for the assets.
Datadin also argued that DEB Essentials is a commercial arm of the GCB and because it is an extension of the GCB, the issue of ownership should not even arise. He added that in a court of law, there is a difference between ownership and possession, which is in effect, custody.
