The Chief Justice on Tuesday granted an interim stay for the matter involving charges of misconduct in public office laid against former Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh and former Head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Winston Brassington, stemming from the sale of the former Sanata Textiles Complex to Queens Atlantic Investment Inc (QAII).
On June 9, 2018, Singh, 45, of Lot 129 Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara, and Brassington, 50, of Florida, USA, were called before Magistrate Leron Daly, who was hearing the case on the Chief Magistrate’s behalf. The matter was adjourned to July 26. As a result, the charge, which alleges that the property was sold at a grossly undervalued price to QAII, was neither sworn to nor read.
Following the charges being laid in the Magistrate’s Court, Singh and Brassington filed an affidavit in the High Court, in a manner similar to the affidavits filed when three similar charges were brought in May.
Attorney Sase Gunraj, who appeared before the Chief Justice for the defendants, told Guyana Times International that despite stringent objections from representatives of the Attorney General Chambers, his arguments prevailed and the Judge granted a stay pending the hearing and determination of the substantive action.
Gunraj said that he argued that a court had already granted a stay of the other matters and this one was filed in his opinion, very capriciously in the face of the other matters being stayed. Secondly, the charges that have been filed are almost identical to the ones that were previously filed. Thirdly, there is the issue of the [matters] canvased here are the same ones canvased and considered by Justice Franklin Holder in the previous case,” he added.
The Attorney said the overarching consideration was the extreme prejudice to which it exposed his clients.
Singh and Brassington are already before the courts on similar charges, for which an interim stay has been granted by Justice Holder, but the charge for the sale of the Sanata Textiles Complex was filed after the stay granted, despite being almost identical in form to the previous.
The charge alleges that Singh and Brassington, while performing the duties of Finance Minister and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NICIL respectively, between October 26 and December 20, 2010, acted recklessly when they agreed to the sale of the Sanata Textiles Complex to QAII. According to the charge, the 18.976-acre property was sold for G$697.8 million, but it was valued at G$1.04 billion.
However, according to privatisation documents published by NICIL, the property was valued at G$245 million by the Government’s Chief Valuation Officer, but QAII paid G$809.5 million for the property – more than three times the Government valuation.
According to documents seen by this newspaper, upon Cabinet’s approval, QAII embarked on its promised programme of reclamation, clean-up and investment. On May 30, 2007, QAII had requested and received a valuation of the property from the Government Assistant Valuation Officer, which proposed G$330.375 million (land G$269.200 million; improvements G$119.175 million). On June 7, 2018, NICIL had commissioned a valuation from the private firm of Rodrigues Architects Ltd, which posited that the property be valued at G$1,042,403,500 (land G$209.650 million; improvements G$832.753 million). NICIL also obtained on June 27, 2007, a valuation of the land and its improvements from the Government’s Chief Valuation Officer, which came in at G$245.175 million (land, G$130 million; improvements G$115.175 million).
QAII was responsible, at its expense, for the asbestos clean-up and removal of scrap, which alone incurred a cost of above G$400 million.
The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) had previously brought charges against the two former Government officials in April. The two men were arraigned on charges of allegedly selling several plots of land on the East Coast of Demerara to National Hardware Guyana Ltd for over G$598 million. In addition, the charges include selling land to Scady Business Corporation at a cost of G$150 million, and to Multi-cinemas Guyana Inc at a cost of G$185 million.
Many political and social commentators, even those in the legal fraternity, have argued that the charges against the two former Government officials may be unconstitutional on the basis that they are not “public officers” in accordance with the Constitution.
Following these events, former Finance Minister Sasenarine Kowlessar, who served from 1999 to 2006, was taken in for questioning at SOCU’s Kingston, Georgetown head office, and was interrogated for close to five hours before being released on G$200,000 station bail.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has said the decision to charge the duo for the sale of the lands was nothing more than a “frivolous” attempt to keep the campaign promise made by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) to jail members of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
