Clifton Bacchus awarded $52M for defamation by Guyana Chronicle

Proprietor of Sleepin International Hotel, Pasha Global Inc and Yokohama Trading, Clifton Bacchus has been awarded $52.5 million in damages in defamation lawsuits filed against Guyana Chronicle. The judgement was handed down by Justice Sandil Kissoon on Friday.

In August 2017, Bacchus and his two companies [the Claimants] instituted defamation proceedings against the State-owned newspaper over its publication of two articles.
Justice Kissoon found that the articles were published maliciously and falsely conveyed to the ordinary man that Bacchus was part of a criminal enterprise and conspired to engage in the process of laundering money in various jurisdictions. The Judge, in handing down his judgement, held that the publications inferred that Bacchus had no independent legitimate source of income, and that he was involved in transnational drug trafficking and money laundering. Moreover, the Judge noted that the publications said that Pasha Global and Yokohama Trading were fronts for unlawful acts and were not legitimate businesses.
According to the statement from the hotel’s Public Relations department, the articles stated that a partner in the hotel was jailed for money laundering and the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) had recently trapped and caught Bacchus and associates laundering money in an investigation back in 2016.
The court also found that the articles lowered the reputation of Clifton Bacchus in the eyes of right-thinking members of society and discredited the Claimants in their trade and business and destroyed their financial standing in the business community. The hotel, in a press release to the media on Friday, noted that the first publication was made a day before the Gaming Authority was expected to visit the hotel for an inspection pursuant to an application for a Casino licence. The second publication, the statement said, was made a day after the Gaming Authority’s visit and was done maliciously to influence the process and/or to ensure that Clifton Bacchus was refused a casino licence.
The court held that the Guyana Chronicle was in possession of Bacchus’ application for a casino licence, including his financial statements at the time the articles were published.
“The court further noted that the financial statements established that Clifton Bacchus had registered financial charges secured on his assets in Guyana for almost one billion dollars yet [Guyana Chronicle] portrayed in [its] publications that Clifton Bacchus was without legitimate income, was involved in money laundering and drug trafficking, and that his application for a casino licence was refused because he was without financial standing,” the hotel release stated on Friday.
Meanwhile, the court found that Guyana Chronicle failed to verify the facts and was aware that Bacchus had issued a statement on August 15, 2017, after the first publication. Despite this, the release noted that Guyana Chronicle went on to publish more elaborate and malicious articles. The court also found that publications were beyond libellous and were reckless, baseless and irresponsible and that the Defendants were motivated by expressed malice for an improper purpose.
The court also granted injunctions restraining the Guyana Chronicle, its servants and/or agents from publishing any statement whatsoever of and concerning Bacchus which suggests or tend to suggest or convey the impression that his businesses are engaged in, connected to, associated with and funded by criminal conduct and from criminal proceeds derived from illicit or criminal activities.
The Guyana Chronicle and its editor were also ordered to remove the published articles from its website within 48 hours.
In relation to the action Clifton Bacchus v the Guyana Chronicle, Justice Kissoon awarded Bacchus $25 million as general damages and the sum of $2.5 million as exemplary damages. In the matters of Pasha Global Inc, Yokohama Trading Guyana Inc v the Guyana Chronicle, Justice Kissoon awarded the sum $12.5 million in damages to each of the companies.
The Claimants were represented by Mohabir Anil Nandlall, Manoj Narayan, Rajendra Jaigobin and Anuradha Deodasingh.