Former Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) Trevor Benn, was yesterday hit with another charge of misconduct in public office.
Benn, 53, was placed on $100,000 bail after the indictable charge was read to him by Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus who was presiding in Court Two.
The charge states that Benn, between 1st December, 2018, and the 31st of August, 2020, at GL&SC, Georgetown, while being a public officer – Commissioner of Guyana Lands and Survey Commission, he willfully misconducted himself by executing a sale of two parcels of land known as plot ‘A’, Mandela Avenue and Aubrey Barker Street, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, otherwise known as parcel 4725 being a mutation of parcel 4716 L.R.B. NO. XXX and parcel 4805 being the mutation of former parcel 4779, all being a portion of Middle Walk, Plantation Ruimveldt and causing Wilfred Bransford who is the owner of Car Care Enterprise to pay the sum of $30,500,000 to the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission for the said lands, knowing at the time he did not have the authority to sell the said lands and knowing the said plot ‘A’ had been earlier valued at the sum of $60,800,000, the said willful misconduct amounting to a breach of the public trust ,without any excuse or reasonable justification.
Benn, who was represented by attorney-at-law Mark Waldron, will make his next appearance at the court for the matter on May 28.
On August 7 last year, the government had announced that all public land deals made by the APNU+AFC administration from December 21st, 2018, would be reviewed. During September last year, Benn was instructed to proceed on 42 days’ vacation. Subsequent to that, Benn was terminated from the post with effect from February 4, 2021. He received his termination letter in November 2020, which gave him three months’ notice.
He was then arrested by police and after two days in police custody, the former GL&SC commissioner was slapped with his first misconduct in public office charge, over the lease of land at Ogle. He was released on $200,000 bail by Senior Magistrate Leron Daly.
