…says State asset laws being used to intimidate
…vows to “vigorously” defend itself in court
The Guyana Bank of Trade and Industry (GBTI) has hit back against the State Asset Recovery Agency’s (SARA) move to take them to court, saying that the Government agency is using the laws as intimidation and vowing to vigorously defend itself in court.
According to GBTI, these allegations are baseless and designed to attack the bank. Moreover, it stated that SARA’s reliance on the State Asset Recovery Act of 2017 appears to be geared at intimidation.
“GBTI takes note of the spurious allegations engineered to further attack GBTI in a gross and unconscionable manner. And that the use of such legislation after so many years is inimical to the interests of justice and smacks of intimidation,” the bank said in the statement.
GBTI reminded in its statement that it has served Guyana since the 1800’s and is the largest indigenous bank. The bank noted that it will be taking appropriate legal action and expressed confidence that the charges will be dismissed.
“The Bank intends to commence appropriate legal action to vigorously defend itself against these malicious claims. GBTI has full confidence in the judicial system, and that it will be fully vindicated as per recent false charges which were duly dismissed,” the bank stressed in its statement.
The Bank has been serving Guyana for over 180 years and is regarded as one of the most trusted and loyal banks in the country.
“In all its dealings with its many stakeholders, GBTI has always discharged its responsibilities with professionalism and integrity as we continue to hold our tagline with the highest level of standards as “We See Guyana though your eyes”.
In a statement of claim against GBTI, SARA is seeking $274.1 million, plus interest, from the bank. The claim has to do with the acquisition of land at the Kingston Seawall, where GBTI built one of its branches.
SARA alleges that when the bank bid for and acquired the right to purchase this land, it was the fourth highest of 14 bids. SARA is claiming that GBTI’s purchase price of $224 million is less than the most recent valuation of the property at the time.
SARA was created when the State Asset Recovery Act was passed in the National Assembly in 2017. It is mandated to recover unlawfully acquired state assets through civil procedures. However, the Parliamentary Opposition has also maintained that the cases it did pursue were aimed at harassing political opponents.
Both SARA and the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), which have both been hit by these accusations, have failed to successfully prosecute any case. In fact, GBTI featured prominently in one of several such cases to be thrown out by the court.
Back in March of this year, contempt of court charges brought by SOCU against eight top executives of the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Limited (GBTI) were thrown out by the magistrates’ court.
The matter stemmed from the matter in October 2017, when SOCU charged the bank’s directors with contempt based on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The contempt proceedings stemmed from the bank’s allegedly failure to comply with a production order made by acting Chief Justice Roxane George on August 29, 2017.
The bank had contended in its application for the variation of the order granted by Justice George that countless efforts were made to gather all the documents requested but it was discovered that some were either destroyed or could not be found. The documents were pertinent to the US$500 million Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) probe that was being conducted by SOCU. The GRDB case has also since been thrown out by the local courts.
