This morning, the Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Volda Lawrence, was questioned by investigators in the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) in relation to the distribution of the A Partnership for National Unity / Alliance for Change (APNU / AFC) administration State.
Lawrence told media executives that she decided to visit SOCU instead of being questioned over the phone.
“It wasn’t really anything. It was just an explanation of a transaction that had my name on it and that was what I decided I would bring and not talk to people on the phone because I didn’t know who he was, ”the politician told the media on after being interviewed by researchers.
Investigations are currently underway into the massive gifts of State lands by an administration led by David Granger. So far, PNCR member and former Member of Parliament, James Bond has been bused in the investigation.
Bond was the attorney who represented three firms at the center of Peters Hall’s land investigation – Life 1 Pharms Incorporated, AZ Pharmaceutical Medical Supplies and Equipment Inc and Arken Group – in drafting leases from National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) for lands in Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara.
The leases were contentious in that they contravened State laws which state that when State lands are leased, the lease must state that the lessee will not take part in possession without the consent of the State .
However, in this case, Life 1 Pharms Incorporated and AZ Pharmaceutical Medical Supplies and Equipment Inc – who leased 15 acres of land each from NICIL at an annual rate of US $ 11,700 – flipped those lands to a Chinese national for only $ 100.
In the case of Arken Group – the owner of that company leased 20.8 acres of land for an annual fee of US $ 16,224 and had his address listed as in Bond’s. It was revealed that Bond then received US $ 1 million for the property after it was flipped to a local oil and gas company.