Social media personality Mikhail Rodrigues, popularly known as “Guyanese Critic,” has had contempt proceedings brought against him for failing to pay some four million dollars in rent owed to his previous landlord.
At a hearing before High Court Judge Gino Persaud yesterday morning, Rodrigues, through his attorney, sought and was granted time during which he has indicated his intention to settle.
The landlord had filed a summons asking that Rodrigues be jailed for contempt.
According to court documents seen by this newspaper, back in 2018, judgment had been entered against Rodrigues, whom a Court had found to be owing his landlord rent in the sum of $4,000,000 for the period September 2015 to April 2017.
At the time, Justice Diana Insanally who presided over the matter, had also ordered Rodrigues to pay court costs in the sum of $50,000
Following Rodrigues’ failure to honour the judgment and commence payments on the sums owing as ordered by the Court, the landlord on February 2nd of this year filed a summons to recover his rent.
The landlord—Turhan Mohabeer—said that he had Rodrigues summoned to the court for the full sums owing as at that date which stood at $4,662,384; which also included interest up to that point.
In his affidavit of non-compliance filed with the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court, Mohabeer highlighted that interest was calculated at a rate of 4% per annum (438.36 per day) from the April 5th, 2018 date of judgment, to January 31st, 2022.
At a hearing on April 19th of this year, Rodrigues appeared before Justice Persaud, where he committed to an order of paying off his debt by monthly instalments of $400,000 on the 1st of each month.
After making two of the required payments for May and June; however; the landlord said that he has since received no further payments from Rodrigues.
Having breached the court order, Mohabeer sought to have his former tenant jailed for contempt.
It was against this background, that he had asked the Court to issue a warrant for Rodrigues’ arrest.
When the matter came up for hearing yesterday, Justice Persaud enquired about the status of his previous order of payments being made on monthly basis.
It was at this point that Rodrigues’ attorney, Marcel Bobb, requested an adjournment to report to the court the status of the remaining payments to be made.
The lawyer hinted at a possible settlement which counsel for Mohabeer; Keoma Griffith, said his client would not be opposed to.
In the circumstances, Justice Persaud granted a November 22nd adjournment for reports on the way forward.
He has, however, told the attorneys that should the matter be finally resolved between the parties before that date, they should have this swiftly communicated to the court.
Mohabeer is being represented by Griffith along with attorney-at-law Ronald Burch-Smith.
