Pradoville 2 probe takes a twist… SOCU goes after Jagdeo and former Cabinet Ministers again

Sep 13, 2018 News

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The police force’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) has started hauling in a number of former ministers of the Bharrat Jagdeo’s  cabinet for further questioning.

They are being grilled about the details of the transfer of lands at Sparendaam in the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), a road contract in the community to Atlantic Construction for $13.7M and the authorisation by the then Cabinet to have the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL)  handle the transactions.

SOCU is reportedly examining the possibility of laying charges against Jagdeo and the former ministers for what they say was the illegal transfer of the lands.

Those lands were converted into an exclusive community cynically dubbed Pradoville Two. The plots were sold allegedly below market value to mainly ministers and others, who were handpicked by Jagdeo and his Cabinet.

State monies were used to develop the lands under questionable circumstances, SOCU is contending.

SOCU is contending also that Jagdeo and his ministers, although knowing that the actions were illegal, nevertheless transferred lands to CH&PA.

They disregarded the fact that the lands were in the hands of the National Communications Network.

On March 9, 2010, Jagdeo and the Cabinet of Ministers met and approved the above transactions.

The Cabinet Decision document was reportedly signed by Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon and copied to the then Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh.

Jagdeo’s constitutional second term ended in November 2011.

Present at that meeting, according to records, were Jagdeo, Prime Minister Sam Hinds and Ministers Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett; Dr. Ashni Singh; Dr. Jennifer Webster; Dr. Jennifer Westford; Manzoor Nadir; Priya Manickchand; Robert Persaud; Manniram Prashad; Robeson Benn; Dr. Frank Anthony; Dr. Bheri Ramsaran; Shaik Baksh; Pauline Sukhai; Irfaan Ali; Charles Ramson; Kellawan Lall and Gail Teixeira.

Also at that meeting were Odinga Lumumba; Feroze Mohamed; Indra Chandarpal; Reepu Daman Persaud; Dr. Nanda Gopaul and Dr. Roger Luncheon.

Yesterday, former Public Works Minister under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Robeson Benn, said that SOCU investigators had been “chasing” after him since Tuesday.

They even visited the Kingston offices of the Guyana Elections Commission where Benn is a Commissioner.

“They asked me to visit SOCU offices on Camp Road. I spoke to my lawyer, Priya Manickchand, and we were accompanied by Marcia Nadir-Sharma there this morning.”

Manickchand was the Minister of Education. She too was reportedly questioned on Tuesday. She owned a plot of land on which she built a home and reportedly sold it for $100M.

According to Benn, he saw Manzoor Nadir exiting SOCU’s office yesterday. Nadir was a former Minister of Labour.
Also questioned yesterday were Kellawan Lall, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran and Irfaan Ali.

Nadir reportedly refused to answer questions, Benn said.

“We were confronted with the allegations that in the Jagdeo cabinet years ago we conspired to fraudulently transfers lands into the hands of CH&PA.”

Benn said that he understands that all the former Cabinet members were being called in the matter.

There were charges prepared to be laid against a few members of the Cabinet but SOCU had withheld after questions about whether the charges were correct in law.

Several of the ministers were questioned before. But SOCU investigators are more specific in what they are looking for now.

“I was shown a number of documents; some of them unsigned and none routed through me. I could not speak to them in any specificity.

I was asked how the vesting of lands was done. And I said I was not the minister who had the specialty. Cabinet was made up of different people and in any event I can’t say if I was there at the meeting on that day and I could not authenticate the documents in any way.”

According to Benn, there were many questions also that he could not answer, based on the documents presented.

“There were questions about a contract to build roads in the scheme and I said I could not authenticate.

I said that during the time the lives of the president and ministers were under threat and that the safety and security were overriding. That a minister and his family were killed.”

Benn explained that he was referring to former Agriculture Minister, Satyadeow Sawh, who was murdered on April 22nd, 2006, at his LBI, East Coast Demerara home. His sister, Phulmattie Persaud, brother, Rajpat Rai Sawh, and security guard, Curtis Robertson, were also killed.

“My understanding is that each and every minister was being hauled in and questioned.”

Benn said that he was advised by investigators that anything he said could be used in the court of law.

The former minister also said that he insisted that he did not own any property other than  one in Meadowbrook, Georgetown.

“I also said to them that if you want something, why not look at the $22M spent by the Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo to repair roads in front of his home when he went into office.”

The Pradoville Two case is the first major one against the PPP.

The Coalition Government had entered office in 2015 campaigning that the incumbent PPP was corrupt.

However, proving those allegations has been uphill with probes and courts cases dragging on three years later with little to show.

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