Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo today told Stabroek News that he will sue his tenant, Su Zhirong for claims that he made on a VICE News programme alleging that he (Jagdeo) took bribes to facilitate deals by Chinese investors.
He also said that Su will have to immediately vacate the premises that he currently rents. After Jagdeo had published a portion of an interview on February 7th 2022 that he had done with VICE News and in which it was stated that Su had made such allegations, Su denied that he ha d accused Jagdeo of corruption. However, in the programme broadcast today, Su is heard alleging that monies are paid to Jagdeo.
“He had said that VICE News lied on him and had issued a statement [to this effect]. Now that they have him on record as though he was doing this, that he claimed he was not doing, that means he has abused the access and friendship he had with me to rip people off. So I am going to take legal action against him because he is damaging my reputation in doing (so) and also he will no longer, as I had said in the past when you had asked me about it, he will no longer be a tenant,” Jagdeo told Stabroek News when contacted after the programme was aired.
In the programme seen by this newspaper, Su whose rented home is next door to Jagdeo’s in Pradoville 2, took the VICE News undercover `businessman’ who went by the name of Mr Chin to meet the Vice President.
According to VICE, the act was done to prove to the undercover potential Chinese businessman that “he (Su) has access at the highest level”.
“Thank you so much for seeing me”, the undercover operative says to Jagdeo.
It is unclear how long that visit lasted but VICE said that Jagdeo avoided giving specifics.
In clips of the interview, the man asks Jagdeo. “Do you understand our [Mr. Chin (undercover businessman) and Su] deal?”
“No, no, no. I am not getting involved in business. You will get the support. Su is my friend, he gets all the support. He deals with all the agreements. I don’t. I don’t,” Jagdeo replies.
“The thing is I am in government so I assist from government’s side. That is it,” Jagdeo adds.
“I know. I know the man,” Chin says.
Su then interjects in Mandarin saying that it was not the place to talk about the bribes. “You can just talk to me about these things,” Su said, with the VICE undercover person replying, also in Mandarin, that while they knew that, they needed to know that Jagdeo will get the money Su has asked for.
“I have to know the money is going to him,” the interpreter reports Chin as saying.
Su assures him, “I will give him the money with you.”
While they were leaving Jagdeo’s residence, the duo continue conversing in Mandarin with Su saying that Jagdeo’s hands are clean and that “Other amounts of money before this have been much bigger”. He also said that Jagdeo shared some of the money with him. Jagdeo has vehemently denied involvement in any such transactions.
