With cases filed against prominent PNCR member James Bond relating to leasing of state land, Attorney General Anil Nandlall has said the government is now looking at ways it can retrieve the property.
“Now that the criminal cases have been filed, we now have to explore avenues of annulling the transaction with these third parties on the basis that the agreements that they entered into [being] grounded in fraud and illegalities,” Nandlall last week told Stabroek News when asked for an update.
“Those issues are currently being considered,” he added.
Special reference was made to land at Peters Hall on the East Bank of Demerara, the sale of which was used as the basis for Bond and former acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) Colvin Heath-London being charged with conspiring to defraud the state.
Late last year, the Guyana Police Force and the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) received three files from Nandlall for the investigation of the leasing of several acres of prime state land at Peters Hall, which was done without any valuation, public advertisement or Cabinet approval.
During investigations, Bond, alleged to have been a key financial beneficiary, was arrested and detained for questioning for 72 hours before being released on $200,000 bail.
Currently, there are three charges against him before the court.
The particulars of the first charge states that Bond, Heath-London and businessman Eddie Doolal, between August 1, 2017 and November 30, 2020, at George-town, conspired together and with others to defraud NICIL and its sole shareholder, the Government of Guyana, of property interest in land, namely the Grant of a Lease of lands known as plot A7, A8, A20 Plantation Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara, owned by NICIL, without the necessary Board and Cabinet approval to do same and for the purposes other than that of NICIL.
Doolal’s company, A-Z Pharmaceutical, and Avalon Jagnandan, of Life 1 Pharms, according to NICIL documents, received only $100 when they transferred their leases to Chinese national Jian Fen Yu.
Jian Fen Yu, of Wellington Street, Georgetown, has been in China since last year, sources told this newspaper.
The second charge states that Heath-London and Bond, between August 1, 2017 and November 30, 2020, at George-town, conspired together and with others to defraud NICIL and its sole shareholder, the Government of Guyana, of property interest in land, namely the Grant of a Lease of lands known as plot A17, A18 and A19 Plantation Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara, owned by NICIL, without the necessary Board and Cabinet approval to do same and for the purposes other than that of NICIL.
A third charge states that Heath-London, Bond and Jermaine Richmond, between August 1, 2017 and November 30, 2020, conspired together and with others to defraud NICIL and its sole shareholder, the Government of Guyana, of property interest in land, namely the Grant of a Lease of lands known as plot A1, A2, A3, A4 Plantation Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara, owned by NICIL, without the necessary Board and Cabinet approval to do same and for the purposes other than that of NICIL.
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 NICIL– three at 5 acres and the other at 5.8 acres. The lands were not advertised and as a result there was no Board or Cabinet approval of the deal. The date of execution of the lease was stated as 9 May, 2018, and the company agreed to a 20-year lease.
The annual cost for the lease was US$16,224, translating to US$324,480 for the 20-year period.
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.
