THE Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) on Friday, August 14, 2020, withdrew the 19 fraud charges against Dr Irfaan Ali, now President of Guyana, for allegedly conspiring to defraud the state of some $174M in ‘Pradoville’ land sales.

The charges were filed in November 2018, by the then David Granger-led administration which accused Ali of conspiring to defraud the Government of Guyana, between 2010 and 2015 when he acted recklessly, in presenting the value of 19 plots of state land, situated at Plantation Sparendaam and Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara, and sold the said lands at a grossly undervalued price, without first obtaining a valuation to determine the true value of the lands.

Ali’s attorney, Devindra Kissoon, had made an application for the charges to be dismissed against his client on the grounds of Article 182 of the constitution which stated that while any person holds or performs the functions of the office of President, no criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against him or her.
Additionally, Kissoon had written the Director of Public Prosecutions arguing that it was not in the public interest to prosecute a sitting president, which would also go against the prosecutors’ code of conduct.

During Friday’s hearing, SOCU Prosecutor, Patrice Henry, told the court that they will be withdrawing the charges against President Ali, given the new office he holds.
The Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan then told President Ali that the charges against him were being withdrawn and he was free to go.

Ali’s lawyer Devindra Kissoon then wrote the Registrar of the Court of Appeal stating that the case challenging the constitutionality of those charges before the Court of Appeal was moot, in light of a decision taken by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

In a letter of withdrawal to the Court of Appeal, Kissoon extended apologies to the Court and adversaries for the short notice in requesting that the matter be withdrawn and said he appreciated that much work would have been dedicated to the matter.

“I have also been instructed by the President to express his gratitude to the Court for its consideration of his matter. We respectfully request that no order as to costs be made, given the circumstances attendant to the matter and the constitutional immunities afforded to the President,” Kissoon informed the appeal court judges.

The Appeal Court then granted the application to have the challenge withdrawn.

President Ali was accused of defrauding the state of over $174M after selling the lands at undervalued prices. The former minister of housing was accused of selling the lands to former President, Bharrat Jagdeo; former Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon; and former ministers Priya Manickchand, Dr. Jennifer Westford, Robert Persaud and Clement Rohee; Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack, and former army head Gary Best and Fortune Developers Inc., Guyana.

He also sold lands at the locations to former General Manager of the Guyana Gold Board and daughter of former President Donald Ramotar, Lisa Ramotar; former President of the Private Sector Commission, Ramesh Dookhoo; the son of former Labour Minister, Dr Nanda Gopaul, Dr Ghansham Singh; former Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Chief Executive Officer, Rajendra Singh; former president of the Caribbean Development Bank, Compton Bourne; Andrew Bishop, former Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission; former Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) Shaik Baksh, Safraaz Khan and George Hallaq.

The controversial ‘Pradoville Two’ issue came to the fore when the coalition government commenced several investigations into suspicious financial transactions of state officials that bordered or amounted to corrupt practices and/or abuse of office. It was found that several persons close to the last government had received prime sea-front lands belonging to the state, at extraordinarily low cost.

It was reported that the ‘Pradoville’ recipients, the majority of whom held very high positions within private or state organisations, received, and later built ‘posh’ or luxury homes on the properties after paying as little as $114 per square foot; citizens, on the other hand, were being made to pay as much as $500 per square foot for ordinary land.
The ‘Pradoville’ arrangement was made during the PPP/C’s term of office, 2010-2015. Ali was the Housing Minister during that period.