Businessman refutes fuel smuggling claim

Jun 28, 2016 News

Former Guysuco Chairman Vic Oditt

Former Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) Chairman and businessman, Vic Oditt, is refuting claims that Potaro Fuel Supplies Inc, a firm he now spearheads, is involved in fuel smuggling activities of any kind.
The allegations came to the fore after businessman, Augustine Jackson, in legal documents filed by the law firm of Anil Nandlall and Associates, claimed he (Jackson) believes that he entered into agreements with that the company which he believed contained illegality which would have led to criminal activities such fuel smuggling.
Jackson information was provided to the court in an effort by the business to have the injunction against his vessel MT POLLUX, known and registered as MT MELISSA J, lifted.
The interim injunction was granted on the grounds that the agreement he entered into with Oditt and his business partner, Pradeep Abdool, had been riddled with illegalities.
The businessman said that he was also led to believe the Promissory Notes, the Partnership Agreement and the business arrangement he had entered into are all tainted by and contaminated with serious criminal illegality.”
But Oditt has since noted that the claims are totally baseless and unsubstantiated.
Jackson said that the men at different occasions under the names Potaro Fuel Supplies wired the sums of US$347,700. The parties later signed agreements for the purpose of trading in fuel products within Guyana, the Caribbean and other countries.”
The deal was expected to be continued for 10 years and all partners were supposed to share equally in the net profits of the Partnership business.”
Oditt claimed that Jackson’s statements are a ploy to avoid paying a debt to Potaro Fuel Supplies (Potaro)
The company had sued the business for US$347,700 and $17,508,487, monies that were advanced to him and secured by two Promissory Notes.
“A check with any of our regulatory agencies, GPF, CANU, GRA, GEA would indicate that Mr. Abdool and I have never been implicated in any such illegal activity.”
Oditt further claimed that Jackson, the Harbour Master, on inspection of the Pollux A, found that there were deficiencies that rendered the vessel unseaworthy and that its statutory certificates were NOT valid, as stated in his letter of May 17, 2016, to the vessel’s Agent, Mr K. Price.
The Harbour Master also indicated in the said letter that the Pollux A is not permitted to sail from Port Georgetown and has placed it under ongoing surveillance by the Lighthouse staff.
“Based on the Harbour Master’s report, Potaro moved to cancel all relationships with Jackson since it recognized that Jackson had misled us on the condition of the vessel.
In addition, he recently changed the name of the vessel from Pollux A to Melissa J as a disguise.”
The former GUYSUCO Chairman said that the claims by Jackson are totally baseless and unsubstantiated
“Mr. Nandlall, as Jackson’s lawyer, has taken a civil legal matter involving the repayment of two promissory notes and has introduced a totally unsubstantiated criminal accusation.
“He then went on a media rampage, with his unproven and baseless statements using the media to do the dirty work of character assassination, a dangerous development for our legal system, especially from a former Attorney General,” Oditt said yesterday.

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