Royston King backdated, signed lease for reserve land when he became Town Clerk

Oct 26, 2018 News

…Mayor Patricia Chase-Green informed of suspicious deal

Not only did Royston King divert $6.8M from a land deal through his Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), but he attempted to cover his tracks by issuing a backdated lease for the property when he became Town Clerk.
This is according to documents obtained by Kaieteur News.
King has been implicated in a highly suspicious deal where he reportedly collected $6.8M from Brian and Ingrid Chase Mining and Trucking for the sale of lands identified as Government reserve.
The land is located along Aubrey Barker Road, North Ruimveldt.
Payment started in 2013 while King was serving as the Public Relations Officer of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC).

The government reserve (looking west) in question, alongside Aubrey Barker Road, North Ruimveldt

A document titled ‘License to Occupy Council Reserve Opposite Lot 1579-1580 Aubrey Barker Road North Ruimveldt – Guyana’ carries King’s signature as Town Clerk.
In July 2015, King was appointed Town Clerk. However, the first line of the lease document, which carries King’s signature as Town Clerk states, ‘that the Licence is made and entered into on this day of 24th July, 2012’.
There are no records or agreement produced to indicate that payments were made in 2012 through City Hall for the property.
The agreement states that the licence is made and entered into between the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown and the mining company.
Further, the agreement is for a period of 20 years with a right of renewal for a further period to be determined.
The agreement appears to have been struck based on a payment of $1.8M, which was made through the city’s treasury department on February 22, 2017.

Embattled Town Clerk, Royston King

But there are discrepancies between the agreement and sundries receipt issued by the treasury department.
The lease agreement states that the mining company is to occupy the reserve opposite lot 1579 to 1580 Aubrey Barker Road. However, the payment receipt from the treasury indicates that the payment from the mining company was for the reserve land opposite lots 1576 to 1580.
Kaieteur News understands that several documents and copies of cashed cheques detailing the suspicious transaction have been lodged with City Mayor Patricia Chase-Green.
She is expected to testify today before the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the mismanagement of the city’s affairs.
King, who was sent on administrative leave to facilitate the CoI, is expected to testify on Monday. Up until now, he has dodged numerous allegations of corrupt dealings utilising taxpayer funds.
This latest information spotlights a transaction that started about two years prior to King’s appointment as Town Clerk.
He reportedly accepted over 15 payments in cheques and cash totalling $6.8M from the mining company.
Kaieteur News is in receipt of copies of the cheques and payment vouchers from the mining company, which indicate that King used the NGO, Environmental Community Health Organisation (ECHO), to secure the payments.
Before his appointment as Town Clerk, King identified himself as the Executive Director of ECHO, writing letters to the media and leading protests calling for transparency and accountability in the extractive sector.
The owners of the mining company are contending that they knew and trusted King, who identified himself as the head of ECHO. Further, the owners indicated that King identified himself as the owner of the land, and they entered into an agreement to buy the strip of land for $7M.
The payments for the transactions reportedly started on April 15, 2013, with a cash payment of $200,000 – said to be legal fees.
The payments continued in May 2013 with a Scotiabank cheque from the mining company issued to ECHO in the amount of $300,000.
By the end of November 2013, there were seven subsequent payments by cheque made out directly to ECHO. Among them were a $700,000 transaction and two $500,000 payments.
According to records, the mining company had prepared a cheque dated December 5, 2013 in the name of ECHO. However, the NGO’s name was scratched from that cheque and replaced by ‘Royston King’. However, the payment voucher indicates that the cheque was paid to ‘Royston King for ECHO’ and bears King’s signature as uplifting the payment.
This was the first time in the transaction that King’s name appears among the cheques.
The company executives have stated that they were told to make the payment in ECHO’s name, but when King became Town Clerk, they were told to make those payments directly to him.
According to company executives, they started work on the land, but were stopped by the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission. The agency identified itself as the owner of the property.