Trevor Benn charged for selling State land for four times less than the initial value
Kaieteur News – The former Head of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), Trevor Benn, yesterday made another court appearance after he was accused of misconduct in public office by selling a portion of the State’s land for four times less than his initial value.
Former Head of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), Trevor Benn.
Benn, 53, of Century Palm Gardens, Georgetown, appeared at Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus with his lawyer, Mark Waldron.
He was not required to plead to the charge, alleging that between December 1, 2018 and August 31, 2019 in GL&SC, Georgetown, while a public official, he knowingly misbehaved by committing the sale of two parcels of lands, all a portion of Middle Walk, Plantation Ruimveldt, Georgetown.
The charge further stated that Benn deliberately misconstrued himself without any excuse or reasonable justification, when he caused Wilfred Brandsford, a businessman and former Director of the GL&SC, to pay GL&SC the sum of $ 13.5M for the share of land knowing at the time he had no authority to sell the said land and knew that the plot had previously been valued at the sum of $ 60.8M. Benn’s behavior amounts to a breach of public trust.
Chief Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus placed Benn on $ 100,000 bail and adjourned the matter until May 28, 2021.
Kaieteur News had reported that Brandsford is the owner of the Car Care Initiative, which allegedly benefited from the sale of ‘severely undervalued’ land located at Plantation Ruimveldt, Georgetown.
In fact, when the share of land purchased by Brandsford was compared with other similar land sales by the Government, it was found that Benn had sold the land for 10 times less than its actual value.
Yesterday was not the first time Benn appeared in Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for charges related to the illegal sale of State lands.
On March 12, 2021, Benn appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly for an alleged illegal sale of six acres of land and was placed on $ 200,000 bail for the crime.
He was not required to plead to the indictable offense, alleging that between January 1, 2018, and March 31, 2020, at GL&SC, Georgetown, as a public official, he had deliberately misconstrued himself by causing that the sum of $ 27,000,000 was paid by Janico Vide Industrial Engineering Limited for the lease of six acres of land at Plantation Ogle, East Coast Demerara, knowing that the GL&SC did not have the authority to lease any land at Plantation Ogle, East Coast Demerara.
He also alleges that on March 27, 2020, Benn granted a Temporary Lease to Janico Vide Industrial Engineering Limited and knowingly misbehaved thereby resulting in a breach of public trust.
Benn was arrested on March 10, 2021, after a probe was launched into the alleged illegal land auction. It is reported that despite the lands being owned by National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Benn moved on to illegally lease the plot of land to a company called Janico Vide Engineering Limited for about $ 27M .
This announcement stated that the $ 27M transaction had been made in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the company and the signed GL&SC. That MoU demanded that the engineering company lease the land for 50 years and pay $ 200,000 per acre annually.
In addition, Benn was appointed GL&SC Commissioner in 2016 by the David Granger administration and was given presidential powers relating to sanctioning rentals and granting leases, licenses and occupation permits for all public lands.
When the Irfaan Ali administration came to power in August 2020, it was removed from those powers and later sent to pack in November. Following the revocation of his presidential powers, the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, SC, had indicated that his government would review all leases, licenses and permissions to occupy Public Lands granted by GL&SC after the No Confidence Vote on 2 December , 2018.