Minister slaps Melly Mel, Sherod Duncan with $50M lawsuit over corruption allegations

Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar, has filed a $50 million lawsuit against Melissa Atwell, called “Melly Mel,” and AFC Parliamentarian Sherod Duncan over defamatory statements made earlier this month.
According to Indar’s statement of claim filed on Friday, the defamatory statements were made on Duncan’s Facebook live programme, ‘Credible Sources’, on August 2, 2024, and was headlined ‘In the ring special/ Live from New York with guest Melly Mel’.
Indar, who was represented by Attorney-at-Law Sase Gunraj, contends that during the live, Atwell defamed Indar by alleging his involvement in corrupt practices, and claimed he is “unfit for public office” by alleging his involvement in the award of contracts. She had also alleged that ‘fronting’, the practice of using others as the face of a company while someone else is the beneficial owner, was occurring.
“The words and any reasonable inference thereto are completely and utterly false and without any foundation in reality, real or imaginary…the repetition by the defendant is relied upon as aggravating circumstances entitling the claimant to aggravated damages…unless restrained, the defendant will continue to repeat the false and defamatory statements about the claimant,” the claim states.

Indar, a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a former President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) before his entry into politics, is claiming damages in excess of $50 million.
He is also claiming aggravated and/or exemplary damages, an injunction restraining Duncan (1st named defendant) and Atwell (2nd named defendant) or anyone on their behalf, from further publishing the defamatory statements.
He is also seeking an order that all social media posts containing the false and defamatory words be removed, as well as an order directing the defendants to retract and apologize for the statements, and he is seeking costs, interest and any further orders deemed appropriate by the court.

When it comes to the matter of service, since Atwell resides in the United States (US), Indar will be asking the court to order that Atwell be served with the court documents via FedEx at her address on Parkside Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.
Alternatively, the Minister is asking the court to consider the claimant served once an advertisement is placed in the Kaieteur News’ New York edition. Further, an order is being sought that she be given 50 days after service via either of these two methods to file a defence.
It would not be the first time Atwell has been sued. Back in 2019, Atwell had a $100 million lawsuit filed against her by the Dr Balwant Singh Hospital for tarnishing the hospital’s reputation via social media posts.
The private health institution had sued Atwell for libel damages of no less than $5 million; special damages of no less than $100,000, and aggravated and exemplary damages of no less than $5 million. However, a request by the hospital to prevent her from sharing horror stories of pregnant women who were patients at the private institution was dismissed by the high court judge.
And reports had emerged last year that several cybercrime charges had been filed against her with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) over her social media publications. The complainants had reportedly included politicians and senior police officers.
Duncan meanwhile, was charged with the offense of cybercrime back in 2022. In his case, the complainant had been Aneal Giddings, an Information Technology Manager at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
It was alleged that Duncan referred to the IT Manager by several disrespectful names on social media, which caused him significant emotional stress and humiliation.