Former Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence yesterday turned up at the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) to answer questions regarding monies transferred from prominent PNCR member, James Bond’s account to hers, as the agency continues to probe the NICIL lands deals at Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara, initiated by Bond.
Sources close to SOCU told Stabroek News that Lawrence was called in after SOCU investigations revealed that bank transactions showed that monies were transferred from Bond’s account, the same one to which $200M was deposited, to an account held in Lawrence’s name.
This newspaper understands that SOCU had contacted Lawrence, requesting that she visit the agency, and she duly complied with the request.
When contacted by this newspaper for clarity over her visit, Lawrence, who is also the Chairman of the PNCR, declined to comment on her visit but emphasised that she voluntarily visited SOCU’s offices.
“I want y’all to know I went in to SOCU, they didn’t come for me,” she said, as she noted that her visit had become a “sensational news piece.”
Lawrence spent approximately 10 minutes inside the SOCU building. Sources disclosed that she refused to give a statement and subsequently left.
SOCU has been investigating the circumstances surrounding the land deal in which Bond is a key financial beneficiary.
During investigations, Bond was arrested and placed on $200,000 bail after being detained for 72 hours. While in police custody he was questioned about the award of state lands at Peters Hall.
The transaction which saw the monies deposited into Bond’s account, pertains to a Caribbean joint-venture for a chemical storage facility between GLASS Holdings and Trinidadian Lennox Petroleum. Bond, it is alleged, was the recipient of some US$952,800 for the sale of lease rights for the Peters Hall lands.
In the case of Arken Group Inc, located at 34 Third Street, Alberttown, it was leased 20.8 acres in four plots by National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) – three at 5 acres and the other at 5.8 acres. The lands were not advertised and as such there was no Board or Cabinet approval of the deal. The date of execution of the lease was stated as 9th May, 2018, and the company agreed to a 20-year lease.
The annual cost for the lease was US$16,224. For the 20-year period, it would mean that the company would have been required to pay US$324,480.
No restrictions were applied and the business sold its leasehold rights of 10 acres to GLASS Holdings Inc on October 10, 2019 for $200 million. GLASS Holdings paid the sum in two installments of US$195,000 and US$757,000 and according to the terms of their agreement with ARKEN, was given an irrevocable Power of Attorney. They were required to continue payments and meet the terms of the lease.
However, according to Managing Director of GLASS Holdings Inc, Glenn Low-A-Chee, when he went to pay his lease fee he was shocked to learn that the deal had come under scrutiny.
“The Lease Agreement and all documents and procedures to effect the transfer of the Leasehold/ Lessee rights from ARKEN to GLASS Holdings were prepared and processed in compliance with the lease (number provided) and the general rules governing the lease transfer,” Low-A-Chee wrote to new NICIL Chairman Radha Krishna Sharma, as he enquired about the purchase of the lease.
“Pending the completion of the documentation process, we had visited NICIL in early March and again in August 2020 in an attempt to pay our lease fees as the new Lessee and we were advised by Mr. Winston Mingo, Accounts Receivable Clerk in the Accounts Department, NICIL, that there was a pending jurisdictional/ restructuring issue between NICIL and Ministry of Business regarding the collection of lease fees, and as such our payment was not accepted/processed. We were advised to follow up at a later date regarding the payments,” he explained to Sharma.