Heath-London stuck in Jamaica, loses second hearing of land case
Kaieteur News – It was reported that the former CEO (CEO) of National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Colvin Heath-London, was stuck in Jamaica on Monday and failed a second hearing on the matter in relation to State primary land gifts at Plantation Peter’s Hall, Demerara East Bank.
Former NICIL CEO, Colvin Heath-London
PNC / R Member, James Bond.
The others accused in relation to the major donations are the National People’s Congress (PNC / R) Reform member, James Bond; AZ Pharmaceuticals Medical Supplies and Equipment Inc. director Eddie Doolal and ARKEN Group Inc. principal Jermaine Richmond.
The matter was first called on April 1, 2021, at Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. At the first hearing of the matter, while the others appeared in court, Heath-London was charged in absentia after the court was told he was not in the country. Bond, Doolal and Richmond were not required to enter a plea after the indictable charges had been read to them.
Bond and Heath-London were slapped with three joint charges, while Doolal is linked to the second joint charge and Richmond is linked to the third joint charge. Bond was released on bail totaling $ 150,000 for the three joint charges, while Richmond and Doolal were each placed on $ 100,000 bail. On Monday, the second hearing of the matter, Heath-London’s lawyer was informed by the court that his client is stuck in Jamaica and is unable to fly to Guyana. Bond’s lawyer then informed the court that his client was experiencing “transportation issues”, and Bond, too, was absent from that hearing of the matter. Richmond and Doolal, however, were present in court.
Head of ARKEN Group Inc., Jermaine Richmond.
Director of AZ Pharmaceuticals Medical Supplies and Equipment Inc., Eddie Doolal.
During the hearing on Monday, the prosecutor asked the court for summary disposal. This means that the defendants will be required to either plead guilty or not guilty to the charges after it has been read to them, and instead of conducting a preliminary investigation (DP) in the Magistrates Court, a trial will be held .
At the end of the case, the Magistrate may issue a judgment on whether or not the prosecution received sufficient evidence to the court. As such, the matter was deferred until May 10, 2021, in order to continue.
According to reports, Doolal and the Director of Life 1 Pharms Inc., Avalon Jagnandan, both leased acres of State-owned land from NICIL, but transferred State land at a price to a Chinese citizen, Jianfen Yu. However, Jagnanadan was not charged.
It is further alleged that Richmond, on behalf of another company, ARKEN Group Inc., also leased acres of land from NICIL. Bond is alleged to have received payment from a Trinidadian logistics company, Lennox Petroleum, for selling several acres of the leased land to Richmond on behalf of the company. The same company sold the remaining acres of land to a local logistics company, GLASS Holdings Inc.
Kaieteur News reported that the People’s Progressive Party / Civic government, which took office last August after a five-month standstill following the March 2, 2020 elections, had insisted that it had found a significant number of transactions irregular land relating to State property, including former sugar lands worth billions of dollars.
A number of companies have already returned lands, which were supposed to be developed. In these cases, investigators found that NICIL, as the representative of the people of Guyana for the transactions, did not even collect all the money when it transferred lands to the recipients’ names.
The police and its Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) are involved in the investigations. SOCU’s role may include investigating whether offenses of money laundering have been committed. The land transactions, which span Wales, Peter’s Hall and Ogle, have seen the downward spiral of a number of former ministers in the now-Opposition David Granger Coalition Government.