Cevons’ boss questioned at CID about acquisition of Mandela Avenue land

Cevons’ Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Morse Archer, was on Thursday asked to report for questioning at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Eve Leary in connection with the plot of land at Mandela Avenue which the Government contends was illegally sold to him back in 2018.

Trevor Benn, who was the Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission at the time of the transaction, was also called in on Wednesday for questioning at CID in relation to alleged illegal sales of land. Notably, Benn is currently before the court for leasing several acres of land at Ogle.
In an interview with Guyana Times, Archer confirmed that at about 13:00h on Thursday, he visited the CID Headquarters at Eve Leary, where he was asked to give a statement on the ongoing land issue.
He explained that he remains optimistic about the option of having the ongoing matter settled outside of court.
“I’ve been informed by the press and some reliable people that there might be a chance of the Attorney General and the President resolving my matter out of court,” Archer related.
In February 2021, Archer was informed via letter from the Attorney General, Senior Counsel Anil Nandlall, that the plot of land on which the Cevons headquarters is constructed is the property of the National Sports Commission, and it had been illegally leased to the company by the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) in December of 2018 for a period of 50 years.
The AG’s letter also informed that, at the time of the transaction, GL&SC Commissioner Trevor Benn had no lawful authority to sell the land.
Further, the letter informed that NSC has plans to use the very land for the development of sports and the construction of sports facilities.
Moreover, the AG’s letter claimed that the fact that the transaction was completed without the knowledge and authority of the NSC, a body corporate, further compounds the illegality of the transaction.
As such, the AG had demanded that Archer vacate the land by March 31, 2021.
However, the Attorney General has subsequently informed Archer that the sale was being reviewed on a direct appeal by Archer to President Irfaan Ali, but noted that the transaction remains highly illegal; and even if the Government decides to act in Archer’s favour and allow the transaction to be regularised, it does not make the wrongdoing right.
Archer, as Company CEO, had previously said that Cevons had followed all laws and regulations applicable to purchasing the plot of land which the Government is now seeking to repossess.
Further, Archer is claiming that when the land was evaluated, it was valued at $40 million, but the company was eventually required to pay $100 million. Of that total, his company had already deposited $80 million with the understanding that the transport would be received in three years’ time, when the remaining $20 million had been paid.
Meanwhile, the company has already subleased the additional portions of the lands to Sol Guyana and Corum Restaurant Holdings.