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James Bond

James Bond

November 30 ,2020

Source

The US$1M payment made to prominent PNCR member James Bond for leased NICIL  lands at Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara was never flagged by the city commercial bank that undertook the transaction, Bank of Guyana sources say.

The Bank of Guyana learned of the transaction, which occurred in October of 2019, through press reports, sources told Stabroek News.

Guyana’s Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) is currently analyzing files sent to it from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on the land deals to determine if laws were transgressed, sources close to that investigation also told this newspaper.

“The file has been passed by the CID for SOCU to conduct the money laundering aspect of the investigations. In this regard, court orders have been applied for and obtained, in relation to all the directors of ARKEN, and James Bond and served on the bank requesting bank account information among other things,” a SOCU source said.

The SOCU source informed that “nothing came to SOCU from FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit) prior to now” on the said transaction.

When FIU Head Matthew Langevine was contacted yesterday, he told this newspaper that the law of this country prohibits his agency from speaking publicly on active investigations. “We can’t, according to law,” he said.

However, he said that his agency shares information with SOCU and has been doing so since its creation as they both collaborate on active investigations.

And with daily complaints by citizens of the red tape and questioning they endure over small sums at commercial banks, Attorney General Anil Nandall says he sees negligence in how the large transaction was handled.

“In my view, there was negligence by the operators in the AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering/ Countering the Financing of Terrorism) machinery to not have red-flagged that transaction,” Nandlall told Stabroek News yesterday when contacted.

Flummoxed

As the Minister who holds responsibility for AML /CFT oversight, Nandlall says that he was flummoxed over how the transaction did not trigger a single red flag.

He said that as the transaction occurred since 2019 while the APNU+AFC was in government, the way that the AML/ CFT is  structured he could not give an insight into transactions during that period.

“I would not be able to explain or account for what transpired. However, having worked closely in establishing Guyana’s AML/CFT machinery, the way it is structured and the manner in which it ought to function, that transaction should have been flagged as a suspicious transaction by the respective bank and that bank ought to have reported it to its supervisory authority which is the Central Bank. The Central Bank in turn had a duty to transmit that report to the FIU for investigations,” he said.

He continued, “The FIU then determines if to send to SOCU which is the investigative arm of the structure. The reason why the transaction should have been flagged would have been because of the sums of monies involved and it could not have been a regular type of transaction, having regard to previous transactions done by that customer. That is unless that customer regularly receives such large amounts in their account. In my view there was negligence by the operators in the AML/CFT machinery; to not have red- flagged that transaction,” he added.

Nandlall said that there seemed to be a lack of communication between the operators of the AML/CFT machinery here and “that by itself warrants investigation”.

After a 72-hour stay in the lockups, Bond was on Friday released from police custody after being questioned on the award of state lands at Peters Hall. He is on $200,000 station bail.

One of Bond’s attorneys, Patrice Henry, told Stabroek News that his client is required report to the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters, at Eve Leary, this  morning. Henry said there has been no indication of charges but noted that the investigation is still ongoing.

Bond is alleged to have been a key financial beneficiary of the deals which did not comply with the traditional terms of such land leases.

Bond has declined to speak to Stabroek News on these matters saying that he will not be speaking to the press. “I am not going to speak to the press” he had told this newspaper three weeks ago. Asked then who would he be speaking to, he replied, “The court, the police, SOCU”.

The transaction which saw the monies deposited into Bond’s account pertains to a Caribbean joint-venture for a chemical storage facility between GLASS Holdings and Trinidadian Lennox Petroleum. Bond, it is alleged,  was the recipient of some US$952,800 for the sale of lease rights for the Peters Hall lands.

In the case of Arken Group Inc., located at 34 Third Street, Alberttown, it was leased 20.8 acres in four plots by National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL); three at 5.0 acres and the other at 5.8 acres. The lands were not advertised and as such there was no Board or Cabinet approval of the deal. The date of execution of the lease was stated as 9th May 2018 and the company agreed to a 20-year lease.

The annual cost for the lease was US$16,224. For the 20-year period, it would mean that the company would have been required to pay US$324,480.

No restrictions applied and the business sold its leasehold rights of 10 acres to GLASS Holdings Inc., on October 10th 2019 for $200 million. GLASS Holdings paid the sum in two installments of US$195,000 and US$757,000 and according to the terms of their agreement with ARKEN, was given an irrevocable Power of Attorney. They were required to continue payments and meet the terms of the lease.

However, according to Managing Director of GLASS Holdings Inc., Glenn Low-A-Chee, when he went to pay his lease fee he was shocked to learn that the deal had come under scrutiny.

“The Lease Agreement and all documents and procedures to effect the transfer of the Leasehold/ Lessee rights from ARKEN to GLASS Holdings were prepared and processed in compliance with the lease (number provided) and the general rules governing the lease transfer,” Low-A-Chee wrote to new NICIL Chairman Radha Krishna Sharma, as he enquired about the purchase of the lease.

“Pending the completion of the documentation process, we had visited NICIL in early March and again in August 2020 in an attempt to pay our lease fees as the new Lessee and we were advised by Mr. Winston Mingo, Accounts Receivable Clerk in the Accounts Department, NICIL, that there was a pending jurisdictional/ restructuring issue between NICIL and Ministry of Business regarding the collection of lease fees, and as such our payment was not accepted/processed. We were advised to follow up at a later date regarding the payments,” he explained to Sharma.

The company had said that it would make a statement on the deal but to date has not done so.

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Why was the US$1M bank deposit by James Bond not red-flagged?


Screenshots of the bank statements detailing the transfer transaction to James Bond.

Kaieteur News – If an ordinary man attempts to deposit a large sum of cash into a local bank account, he would have to endure stringent procedures with an austere line of questioning due to Guyana’s strict anti-money laundering legislation.
However, when People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) member, James Bond, deposited US$1 million into an account at a commercial bank in the city, the transaction, it would seem, triggered no red flags. This has caused questions to be raised as to how many more large transactions like this have passed under the radar.

PNC/R member, James Bond.

In fact, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) was not even notified of the transaction, Kaieteur News was told.
This paper had reported that Bond pocketed the hefty sum for the sale of prime state lands leased by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) to ARKEN Group Inc., a company in which Bond appears to be a principal.
Those very lands in question are a small part of ongoing investigations being undertaken by the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) into the large-scale giveaway of state lands at Peter’s Hall and on the East Coast of Demerara during the APNU+AFC tenure.
As the investigations progressed, Kaieteur News received copies of the bank statement detailing Bond’s bank transaction.
Back in 2019, on October 15, Bond received US$195,000 from Trinidad-based Lennox Petroleum Inc. on behalf of GLASS Holdings Inc., the local oil and gas Logistics Company the lands were sold to.
Lennox Petroleum deposited the funds into a local bank account with Bond listed as the beneficiary. Then again, on November 21, the last tranche of funds for the sale were released; a whopping US$757,800 right into Bond’s account.
Such a large transaction should have immediately triggered red-flags as per the Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act 2009, the city bank, deemed the “reporting entity” is required to pay special attention to “all complex, unusually large business transactions, unusual patterns of transactions, whether completed or not, that have no apparent economic or lawful purpose and inconsistent with the profiles of the persons carrying out such transactions.”
That reporting entity would also have to “verify the background and purpose of the transactions or business relations and record its findings in writing.” Then, that information would be transmitted to the Financial Intelligence Unit.
The FIU was established and operates within the ambit of the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act (AML/CFTA) 2009 and its Regulations.
The Unit, which has responsibility for requesting, receiving, analyzing and dissemination of suspicious transaction reports and other information relating to money laundering, terrorist financing or the proceeds of crime, should have been notified about Bond’s bank transaction, but was not.
In addition to this, a source from the Bank of Guyana (BoG) explained to Kaieteur News that Bond’s transaction should have raised concerns because of the mere fact that he is in the political lime light.
“If you are a politically exposed person, a PEP, one is supposed to examine it a number of times. It does not just go away like that, go unchecked like that. PEPs are looked at differently, so any transaction should have raised eyebrows,” the source explained.
Bond is currently out on bail after being arrested as the probe into the lands giveaway progress. However, the US$1 million deal is not the only one Bond allegedly benefitted from.
Two businessmen embroiled in the scandal – Life 1 Pharms Inc. Director, Avalon Jagnandan, and Director of A-Z Pharmaceuticals Medical Supplies and Equipment Inc., Eddie Doolal, fingered Bond as being the mastermind behind land deals, which saw 30 acres of state lands being transferred to Chinese national, Jianfen Yu. Not only that, Bond was said to have also pocketed more than $120 million from both deals.



I hear a PPP coolie name Totaram teach Dis guy Bond 007 to teef land....

sachin_05
Last edited by sachin_05

@sachin_05 Whatever I have I earned.  I have said elsewhere that if there is evidence of a crime Bond should be charged and be afforded due process.  The person who could teach people how to steal if Jagdeo.  That Pradoville2 house was funded fraudulently.  Everyone knows that except chupid coolies like Sachin_05.   

T
@Totaram posted:

@sachin_05 Whatever I have I earned.  I have said elsewhere that if there is evidence of a crime Bond should be charged and be afforded due process.  The person who could teach people how to steal if Jagdeo.  That Pradoville2 house was funded fraudulently.  Everyone knows that except chupid coolies like Sachin_05.   

Dude I ain’t belong to no party and certainly not a Jagabaat fan...never was. I don’t support teefing period. Django and I were collation supporters and the worst PPP nemesis in the past. Right now he and I are enemy because  I can’t stomach the blatant rigging of any party....the party he supports just happen to get caught red handed...

sachin_05
@sachin_05 posted:

Dude I ain’t belong to no party and certainly not a Jagabaat fan...never was. I don’t support teefing period. Django and I were collation supporters and the worst PPP nemesis in the past. Right now he and I are enemy because  I can’t stomach the blatant rigging of any party....the party he supports just happen to get caught red handed...

So, how is it you had the nerve to mention that I "teach" Bond to teef land?  You head good? Or you jes a play chupid?

T
@Totaram posted:

So, how is it you had the nerve to mention that I "teach" Bond to teef land?  You head good? Or you jes a play chupid?

You are not the only Totoram but you are either chupid or guilty of the fact to admit...gotya...

sachin_05
@sachin_05 posted:

You are not the only Totoram but you are either chupid or guilty of the fact to admit...gotya...

I am not Totoram but I am the one and only Totaram on this board.  Totoram is me nephew from tapside.  You know am?  E does wear one black pants and red shut.  One two time e does dance a wedding house. 

T
@Totaram posted:

I am not Totoram but I am the one and only Totaram on this board.  Totoram is me nephew from tapside.  You know am?  E does wear one black pants and red shut.  One two time e does dance a wedding house.

That description fits a lot of PYO guys from the Sugar estates, Totaram was PYO. I must have trained you at their college where they brainwash the likes of you.

R
@Ramakant-P posted:

That description fits a lot of PYO guys from the Sugar estates, Totaram was PYO. I must have trained you at their college where they brainwash the likes of you.

I don't think I was in the PYO.  Y'all keep mixing up Totoram with Totaram.

T
@kp posted:

So Totaram taught Bond fuh thief land, very good teacher of criminal activities.

Teefin land is really a coolie specialty .  Dem two Jagnandan and Dolall mus be de ones who corrupt Bond.   Jagnandan looks familiar.  Was his father a judge?  Dem fram clanbrook side?  Totaram teaches honesty and respect for the law. 

T
@Totaram posted:

Teefin land is really a coolie specialty .  Dem two Jagnandan and Dolall mus be de ones who corrupt Bond.   Jagnandan looks familiar.  Was his father a judge?  Dem fram clanbrook side?  Totaram teaches honesty and respect for the law.

You must be a Brother Man.

K
@kp posted:

You must be a Brother Man.

@Totaram posted:

Teefin land is really a coolie specialty .  Dem two Jagnandan and Dolall mus be de ones who corrupt Bond.   Jagnandan looks familiar.  Was his father a judge?  Dem fram clanbrook side?  Totaram teaches honesty and respect for the law.

Totaram supports criminality in the APNU/AFC coalition.

Now you can go and cry to papa if you want to like the last time I told you so.

R
@Ramakant-P posted:

Totaram supports criminality in the APNU/AFC coalition.

Now you can go and cry to papa if you want to like the last time I told you so.

NICIL sells prime lands to Nat’l Hardware at $5M per acre
…demanded $24M per acre from other company
Jan 27, 2016 News
By Abena Rockcliffe
More information has surfaced about how Former President Bh@rrat Jagdeo secured wealth and assets for his friends at the expense of the state.
Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) could have been in a better position if only it was allowed to go ahead with certain plans, said an official. However, those plans were halted on the call of Jagdeo while he was President. He had eyed GuySuCo lands for his friends.
A former GuySuCo Chairman, who spoke to Kaieteur News on condition of anonymity, said that under his tenure, there was a “fully functioning” Land Committee. That committee, he said, would look at each application for GuySuCo lands on individual merit.
He said that back then lands were sold and some were gifted but in a very transparent manner. Those gifted were to religious bodies and sometimes charitable organizations. That Chairman added that the lands used for the development of Diamond Housing Scheme were from GuySuCo. “We gifted wisely and we were able to contribute to the development of Guyana.”
The Chairman said that things started to change after the PPP Administration started to have a direct say as to what should be documented as lands “gifted.” NICIL was subsequently given responsibility to sell GuySuCo lands.
Kaieteur News understands that the development of such a culture resulted in much losses for GuySuCo.
In just one instance GuySuCo was deprived of making over US$20M just because, according to the former Chairman, “We were told the President had other plans for a plot of land.”
GuySuCo was getting ready to seal a lucrative deal through the sale of just over 100 acres of land at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, to Housing Construction Limited but the process was halted by the Jagdeo government. Housing Construction Limited is a Trinidadian Company.
A top GuySuCo official at the time, said, “The government was very much aware that we were getting ready to sell and it is because of that they decided to take the lands.”
A document titled Privatization in Tables Phase 11 (1993 to 2011) shows that those lands were basically gifted to Eddie Boyer. Boyer is the owner of National Hardware and a friend of Jagdeo’s.
The document was prepared by NICIL Director, Winston Brassington.
Page 38 of that document, item 61, showed that Boyer under the name of his company, National Hardware was sold 103.88 acres for $510M (US2.55M)—$4.9M per acre.
The document showed that other buyers of land in Liliendaal paid way more than Boyer paid.
Scady Business Corp. paid $115M for 4.7 acres — $23M per acre. Even though the circumstances surrounding that sale are questionable, Boyer was essentially handed the lands at a gift price.
The transactions were also flagged in the NICIL audit report done by Chartered Accountant and Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran.
Goolsarran, in his report, said that “By order No. 45 of 2008 dated 29 December 2008, 209.344 acres of land at Block LPT lettered XXX were transferred from GuySuCo to the government of Guyana. Of this amount, 103.88 acres were transferred to NICIL via order No. 4/2010 dated 12 March 2010. Three months later, on 17 June 2010, NICIL sold the said land to National Hardware for $510M via order No. 43 of 2010. This works out to 4.9M per acre.
He noted too, “By order No. 47/2008 dated 30 December 2008 4.7 acres of land at RU Plantation Liliendaal was transferred from the Government of Guyana to NICIL. NICIL in turn sold the property on 2 January 2009, a mere two days later, for $115 M to Scady Business Corporation, an overseas company based in Tortola, British Virgin Islands . This is further evidence of the sale of land without any form of competitive bidding.”
Contacted yesterday, Boyer denied that he was given a favorable deal. Presented with the information about the purchase deal, and asked to comment, Boyer’s first response was, “When? What?
Boyer then told Kaieteur News that the price was the “highest price ever paid for land in Guyana.”
He added, “This was a piece of property that was advertised in your newspapers. It was advertised in the Kaieteur News, Stabroek News, Chronicle or whoever and I was a bidder for that property. That is all you have to know. If you want you can go back and check, simple. It was advertised.”
Asked how much he paid, Boyer replied, “Why must I tell you how much I paid for the land? It does not have to be public knowledge. It was government land; GuySuCo or whoever sold the land can tell you.”
Further, Boyer asked, “Why should I disclose how much? Tell me why should I.”
Boyer told Kaieteur News that he was the only bidder for the land. “I got it and that was the end of that.”



Who remembered the flipping above ?

Django
Last edited by Django

  For PPP sycophants: PPP crooks good; PNC crooks bad.  The problem is that the biggest crooks are PPP crooks.  Compared to PPP crooks PNC crooks are like choir boys.  Jagdeo and Ali are buddy buddy with the PPP crooks, one of them even name Buddy. 

T

The hotel was built with funding that included five mortgages from the Guyana Bank of Trade and Industry (GBTI) and the $165.7M advance on the sale of rooms to the Government of Guyana.

The Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport has since paid over to the Ministry of Finance the sum of US$598,000 – approximately $119.6M – of the $165.7M that the government had advanced to the hotel. The remainder of the sum of $46.1M was said to have been recovered through room nights at the hotel.

    Buddy’s hotel sold to Turkish group

  How about this deal ??

Django
@Django posted:

The hotel was built with funding that included five mortgages from the Guyana Bank of Trade and Industry (GBTI) and the $165.7M advance on the sale of rooms to the Government of Guyana.

The Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport has since paid over to the Ministry of Finance the sum of US$598,000 – approximately $119.6M – of the $165.7M that the government had advanced to the hotel. The remainder of the sum of $46.1M was said to have been recovered through room nights at the hotel.

    Buddy’s hotel sold to Turkish group

  How about this deal ??

An article in MAY, 2008??? It was OK with the PNC .

K

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