President Irfaan Ali was yesterday written to by Dion Bascom’s lawyer requesting protection for him under the Protected Disclosures Act and calling for an independent investigation of the murder of Ricardo Fagundes on March 21st last year.
The stalled Fagundes murder probe triggered allegations on Thursday by Sergeant Bascom, a detective, of a police cover-up. This in turn has sparked lawyer’s letters to Bascom on behalf of Mohamed’s Enterprise and Deputy Head of the Guyana Police Force’s Major Crimes Unit, Mitchell Caesar.
Bascom is however standing his ground and yesterday his lawyer Nigel Hughes wrote President Ali laying out their case and seeking his intervention in the matter. Hughes told the President that Bascom is prepared to testify under oath and he fears that his client’s life is in grave danger.
Referencing the Protected Disclosures Act of 2018, Bascom’s attorney stated, “We are instructed to request, as we hereby do, that pursuant to the powers vested in you by virtue of Section 9(2) of the Protected Disclosures Act 2018 that you establish an independent investigation peopled by regional or international police officers into the allegations of our client and the murder of Ricardo Fagundes”. Hughes in his letter, also requested that the President, in the absence of the Protected Disclosures Commission catered for by the Act, make the intervention and provide him with witness protection as set out in Section 20 of the Act.
President Ali has so far not commented on this case.
Hughes further stated in the letter to Ali that Bascom stands by his statements and is prepared to testify under oath. He also said that Bascom has received threats to his life and is extremely fearful that members in and out of the Police Force will harm him. Hughes added that Bascom is concerned that an investigator in the matter will target him as a result of his allegations, which he referred to as “exposures”.
The letter also noted that Bascom made a report on May 18th 2021 to the Brickdam Police Station about a threat to him by a suspect in the Fagundes murder. A copy of this report was also enclosed in the letter to the President.
Contacted by Stabroek News yesterday, Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn said that his ministry is currently looking at the establishment of a Protected Disclosures Commission. Pressed on whether any progress has been made on the establishment of the commission, Benn iterated his position and noted that that was the only comment he would be making. Asked whether he is concerned over the allegations made by Bascom, Benn responded, “all allegations are concerning.”
Meanwhile, in separate letters to the attorneys of Superintendent of Police, Caesar, who is the Deputy Head of the Guyana Police Force’s Major Crimes Unit; Azruddin Mohamed of Mohamed’s Enterprise and employee of Mohamed’s, Mark Richmond; Hughes said that Bascom stands ready to defend his claims in any legal proceedings.
“We are instructed to inform you, as we hereby do, that our clients rejects the demands contained in several letters and has instructed me to inform you that the contents of the broadcast are true in substance and in fact.” The trio, through separate lawyers’ letters, had demanded that Bascom retract the allegations he made during a since deleted Facebook video last Thursday night and publicly apologise or face lawsuits.
Same lawyer
In a new video posted on Saturday, a defiant Bascom sought to question the rationale behind the three men being represented by the same law firm. “How they get the same lawyer?” he remarked in reference to the letters, which he said were all delivered at the same time. “All them men tek the same lawyer,” he later added in the new live video, where he also shared what he described was evidence to support his claims and indicated his willingness to turn it over to an international body to investigate.
In the letters sent to Bascom, the attorneys asserted that their respective clients were defamed by his comments. In the letter on behalf of Caesar, attorney Sohan Poonai called on Bascom to cease and desist from making further allegations about his client, issue a retraction and unqualified apology and pay monetary damages within seven days.
Poonai said that should Bascom fail to do so, legal proceedings would be instituted against him for defamation of character and damages in excess of $50 million. The letter also advised Bascom that he may have committed several breaches of the cybercrime laws, which may result in legal charges.
“My client maintains his rights to make criminal complaints as he sees fit including filing private criminal prosecution against you without further notice,” Poonai’s letter concluded. The letter by attorney, Naresh Poonai, on behalf of Mohamed made similar demands but said that the monetary damages that would be sought would be in excess of $25 million. Naresh Poonai also authored the letter sent in respect of Richmond, who has indicated that he would seek in excess of $100 million in damages should Bascom fail to comply with his demands.
Proprietor of Mohamed’s Enterprise, Nazar Mohamed, on Saturday said the allegations made by Bascom were “distressing” and aimed at tarnishing the company’s reputation. In his videoed response, Bascom remained defiant, saying that he stood by everything he had stated in previous posts. “I rather die telling the truth than die with the truth inside of me,” he said. Bascom’s initial allegations, which he made in a live broadcast and posted on Facebook last Thursday night, triggered a probe by the police force’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). Bascom revealed in his video on Saturday that he was indeed contacted by the OPR to make a statement. But while not stating if he visited the agency, Bascom said that he had reservations as he does not feel it (OPR) would be able to conduct an impartial investigation given that he would have mentioned the names of senior GPF officers.
Noting that he has nothing against the OPR or its head, he pointed out that when the investigation is completed, it will have to be reviewed by a senior officer against whom he has also made allegations. As a result, the investigation can be influenced, he suggested. “How OPR can investigate this matter and call me to give them statement?” he questioned in light of his concerns. “The Police Complaints Authority supposed to be looking after this matter or some international body from the USA or Canada or England or somewhere…This matter can’t be looked after by OPR…,” he added.
In his new video, Bascom also gave a glimpse of the evidence he said was in his possession to support his allegations. He added that he has more evidence but was refraining from releasing all. He stated that he is waiting to present his evidence at a Commission of Inquiry (CoI). In Thursday’s live video, which went viral before it was deleted, Bascom, a police sergeant, said he was one of the officers who arrived at the scene following the shooting of Fagundes, known as ‘Paper Shorts.’ According to Bascom, an individual who was employed as a private security for a city businessman was identified as the prime suspect in the murder.
According to Bascom, he and other officers were able to track the phone used by the prime suspect and the calls he made before and after the shooting. “….They use everything and destroy all the evidence but they forget how….technology does wuk,” Bascom said during the live feed. Fagundes, who was a close friend of convicted drug trafficker Roger Khan, was riddled with bullets by two men outside Palm Court on the evening of Sunday, March 21, last year. At the time of the attack, he was approaching a parked vehicle owned by Khan. An autopsy later confirmed that Fagundes was shot about 20 times about his body. Khan would later say he was the intended target of the attack. The police recovered 30 spent shells at the scene. Sixteen were from an AK-47 rifle, while the other fourteen were from a 9mm gun. To date, the murder remains unsolved. Bascom alleges that a police officer received $30 million as bribe to bury the matter.
In his half hour long live video on Saturday, Bascom related that after he was recently arrested and released on bail by the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit in relation to a drug bust, he received a call from a friend who informed him that people were out to “lash yuh up” (slang for murder) and link him to the drug bust. After hearing this, Bascom said he made up his mind to speak out against the alleged corruption within the police force. “My family [would] lose in three ways. They would lose me, they would not have gotten any justice because they would [have] said I get killed because of drugs and my family would have been tainted. So I had to make up my mind and that was the reason for me to come and talk out. Nobody nah tell me to come and talk,” he said.
