Lawyers for Vieira, Insanally threaten GNBA board Chairman

Sep 24, 2016 News

– Say investigation is out of order
Embattled members of the Board of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA), Anthony Vieira

GNBA Head, Leonard Craig

and Vic Insanally have employed the services of Attorneys at Law C. Satram and Edward Luckhoo to force the Board Chairman, Leonard Crag, into submission.
The two members want Craig to apologize to them, to desist from any investigation and to give them “compensation” of an unspecified sum that is yet to be agreed upon. The letter threatened that if Craig does not agree on a quantum of compensation, legal proceedings will be instituted against him.
This letter was sent to Craig yesterday.
The lawyers noted, “You are reminded that you have no authority and it is indeed improper for you to investigate and pronounce on the truth and accuracy of the allegations made by Mr. Charles. We call upon you to desist from publicly repeating these allegations and to apologize to our clients for the injury caused to them.”
The letter further stated, “Our clients are entitled to damages for the defamation and reputational injury caused as a direct result of your conduct. Our clients have been painted as corrupt and dishonorable.”
Also, the lawyers said, “We have been instructed to institute legal proceedings against you, without further notice, if there is no agreement on the quantum of compensation payable to our clients.”
Insanally and Vieira recently found themselves in a nasty scandal. Kenwin Charles, a broadcaster, claims that the two tried to bully him into moving his operations out of Essequibo and to sell the assets there to a prominent businessman. The broadcaster claimed that the two told him that if he did not accept a “deal” to go to another region, he will

GNBA Board Member, Anthony Vieira

not be granted liecnse to operate any part of Guyana.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that the broadcaster made the complaint and even had a meeting with the Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.
Subsequent to Kaieteur News’s publication of a story that highlighted Charles’s claim, Craig released a statement saying that he is aware of the matter. He named the two directors involved and said that he was going to investigate the matter.
The lawyers’ letter stated that through a public statement widely circulated in the media Craig “intentionally and maliciously made reference therein to our clients by name thereby causing members of the public to connect them with defamatory statements of and about them which were made by an unlicensed broadcaster, Kenwin Charles.”
The lawyers said that the allegations made by Charles are false.
According to that letter, the truth of the matter is, “Charles was an unlicensed operator. The board had taken a decision that the Committee comprising of our clients will meet with such operators and seek to regularize their operations. The allegations were not brought to the attention of our clients for response at the last meeting of the Board or at all.”
Vieira and Insanally claim that Craig deliberately sought to bring them into public ridicule. “Your motive was to discredit our clients as directors of the GNBA and to engineer their removal as directors thereof.
The two also bemoan, “No steps were taken by you to verify the allegations. Ms. Boyal, the Board Secretary and then acting Chief Executive Officer, was also present at the meeting with Mr. Charles.
“She is in a position to verify the truth of the allegations made by Mr. Charles. The minutes of the meeting and the letter dispatched to Mr. Charles after the meeting clearly set the nature of the discussion and all proposals made for the regularization of the operations of Mr. Charles.” (Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell)

2 thoughts on “Lawyers for Vieira, Insanally threaten GNBA board Chairman”

Jiggy September 24, 2016 at 4:15 pm

Why are they threatening Craig, go ahead and file legal action, this is bovine scatology, Money talks …
Nick Neal September 24, 2016 at 8:42 pm

What a wonderfully objective piece of reporting. It is a true testimony to the journalistic principles of fairness and balance.
I wonder who at Kaieteur News has an axe to grind?