Landlord accuses pastor of fraud

Jan 19, 2011 News

-man reportedly owes $300,000 in rent, $100,000 in electricity bills

An “Apostle Webster Rodney” of the Redemption Tabernacle Church in Guyana is being accused of barefacedly robbing his landlord, Troy Baksh, of over $385,000 in rent and over $100,000 in electricity bills.
When Kaieteur News spoke with Baksh on Sunday, last, he explained that he rented a furnished one-story house located at Lot 62 Bougainvillea Park, East Bank Demerara from October 2009 to June 2010 to “Pastor” Webster Rodney.
Baksh stated that the agreement was that Rodney would pay $85,000 per month as rent for the house where Rodney and his wife would be living. All was well for the first few months however Rodney would have a number of men “sleeping over” at the house and the last four months while he was “renting” the premises, he did not pay any rent to Baksh.
Kaieteur News understands that Rodney was asked to leave on several occasions and it was not until Baksh visited a lawyer (name and information supplied) and delivered an evacuation notice to Rodney which allowed him one month’s notice, that Rodney finally left on June 21, 2010.
To the landlord’s surprise, after checking the house when Rodney vacated, Baksh noticed that all the bedroom door locks were broken, the chairs, cupboards, washing machine and wardrobe were also damaged.
Within a few days after his departure, workers from the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) “removed the wire” from the house and eventually removed the meter on January 13, 2011.
What surprised the landlord further was that Rodney explained that he would also pay the money for the electricity bill and that he “had a payment plan with GPL to pay the money” however after the meter was eventually removed, Baksh paid GPL a visit.
He was told that “no such plan existed between GPL and Rodney”.
Rodney had also signed an agreement with Baksh to pay him the said money owed but to date no payment has been received by Baksh or his wife, from Rodney. Every time attempts were made to contact Rodney or reach him, Baksh was told that he was “not around” or “unavailable”.
Baksh told the Kaieteur News that when he went to speak to Christian leaders of the said church which Rodney attended, they pleaded with him “as a Christian” not to publicize the matter or report it to the police and seeing that Rodney had signed an agreement to repay the money, Baksh trusted this agreement as Rodney was “a man of God”.
Baksh presented all relevant documents with Rodney’s signature and identification number to this newspaper as proof of all arrangements and transactions. Kaieteur News spoke with some of the neighbours who resided in the same street where Rodney had rented the house from the Baksh family and they confirmed most of the information as well.
When Kaieteur News tried contacting Rodney for a comment on the issue, a secretary of his church stated that “Mr. Rodney is not in the country and I do not know when he is expected to return”.

Latest News

Landlord accuses pastor of fraud

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | September. 30th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Uncertainty clouds Golden Jaguars’ Head Coach position as...

Greaves makes history with magnificent 151* to...

Dominica’s Olympic champion Thea LaFond-Gadson...

Julien Alfred named finalist for World Track...

Junior Sinclair replaces Kevin Sinclair in the CG...

Hamilton Green KO Football Championship starts...

Features/Columnists

Fingerprinting and Finger-Pointing

Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all

Jagdeo the genius, genie- don’t ask what kinds

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Landlord accuses pastor of fraud

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | September. 30th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]