Dear Editor,

SCRAPING the bottom of the barrel may very well be the applicable slogan here as the APNU+AFC delegation to Washington DC did exactly that in citing their example of racial discrimination by the Government of Guyana.

I am compelled to pen this letter if only to educate the public about the gross misinformation being peddled as it relates to who really is Dorwain Bess.

As I was browsing through the online news, an article on Village Voice News captioned, “Washington Conference Hears of Discrimination in Guyana, businessman Dorwain Bess story highlighted.” I paused to note that “Dorwain Alpha Bess” has many variations to his name, and Dorian, as spelt in the caption of the article, may be intentional.

Roysdale Forde S.C. introduced me to Dorwain Bess in 2014 and proposed that I invest with him to import diesel fuel, as he had a licence but no money. As it turned out, the licence was issued to one Linden Thomas under LYNWIL Inc. by the PPP government and he sold it to Bess. However, it was not paid for and the company LYNWIL at that time owed GRA and many other suppliers. I bought out 45 per cent shares in the company with 45 per cent staying with Bess and 10 per cent offered to Forde and proceeded to manage the finances.

I brought in investors to turn around the company over a period of two years. By 2020, the company, then renamed SBF Petroleum Inc. with an asset-holding company named SBF International Inc., was paying billions in duties and taxes to the GRA. It was greed that resulted in the company’s demise, not anything political. In my absence, and without notice, resolutions were passed to by-pass bank instructions designed to protect my investment, resulting in the accounts being frozen and cancelled. Only business-minded people would understand the domino effect.

Like many other companies, SBF International Inc. made financial contributions to the APNU+AFC government election campaign in 2020, obviously in exchange for favours, in SBF’s case, lease to a parcel of land to establish a fuel farm in Linden. The lease was issued by NICIL but to a company established by Bess named Alpha Petroleum Inc., whose directors were Dorwain Bess and his child’s mother, who happened, at that time, to be a junior lawyer working with Roysdale Forde.

Maybe back then I should have asked the question of why the East Indian guy was discriminated against but no, I realised that staying on my side of the fence may be prudent. The Christopher Martin show was paid for with SBF funds and I, an East Indian, signed the cheque. I am stating this now for the benefit of those who went to Washington.

The company SBF was constantly before the authorities for some reason or the other, primarily during the period 2015 to 2021. Dorwain Bess was constantly doing illegal/questionable transactions, and at some point, in 2021, I decided to resign as a director after finding out that my signature was forged. The company collapsed after I filed court actions to retrieve my investment.

I received three separate court orders against SBF International Inc. and SBF Petroleum Inc. However, all the assets of the companies were transferred to Bess in his personal capacity, or third parties before I could move to execution. Dorwain Bess subsequently served jail time for intentionally flouting the court order. See judgement at link: http://guyanabarassociation.org/decision/anand-sanasie-v-sbf-international-inc-and-dorwain-bess/

In some cases, assets that were still in third parties’ names were transferred without their knowledge or signing of any transfer documents. Matters involving MARAD transfer of fuel tankers are still in the court system. Dorwain Bess was so blatant that he stood before a judge and stated that he was paid $600 USD in cash for one of the vessels he tried to sell. I’m still pursuing these matters.

It was during this period that I started to look into Bess’s background and past dealings. I found out that Bess misappropriated funds from another business dealing prior to my involvement; that matter also ended up in the court.

Bess, apparently a US citizen, allegedly fled that jurisdiction and cannot return. It may be prudent for the APNU+AFC delegation that visited Washington DC to ask Hakeem Jeffries, whenever they get to meet him, to find out why. In such matters, warrants are issued and dispatched to all ports of entry.

It is quite apparent that the APNU+AFC delegation that went to Washington DC was ill prepared and sought to use frivolous examples of racial discrimination, as I am aware that at least one member of that delegation is very well aware of Dorwain Bess’s shenanigans, his questionable past and present court battles.

In any society, a strong opposition is required to ensure that the rule of law and accountability are achieved by providing strong and robust representation. It is my personal opinion that as a whole, the current parliamentary opposition is the weakest there has been for my lifetime, while the government is moving at a fast pace to develop this nation for the benefit of all Guyanese, regardless of race.

Respectfully,
Anand Sanasie