Businessman slaps Police sergeant with $100M defamation lawsuit
Prominent businessman, Azruddin Mohamed has filed a $100M lawsuit against Police Sergeant Dion Bascom whom he alleged has spoken false allegations against him.
Bascom posted videos on Facebook on August 11, 12, 13 and 19 –shortly after he was arrested by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) in relation to cocaine found in a house at Norton Street, Georgetown and later released –accusing the businessman and several senior Police officers of a massive cover-up in the investigation into the execution of Ricardo Fagundes.
Fagundes, also known as ‘Paper Shorts’, 42, a gold miner and biker of Kitty, Georgetown was gunned down outside the popular Palm Court Club in Main Street, Georgetown in March 2021.
In filings by his lawyer, Naresh Poonai, Mohamed is seeking more than $100M in damages for defamation and exemplary, punitive and/or aggravated damages.
He is also asking the High Court to restrain the cop from uttering, repeating, posting, printing, sharing and otherwise disseminating the defamatory content as well as a mandatory injunction compelling him to forthwith permanently remove the Facebook posts.
Poonai, in a Statement of Claim filed at the Demerara High Court, described his client as a well-respected businessman and deposed that the cop’s utterances are untrue, false, disingenuous, malicious, irrational, unfair, unsubstantiated, unfounded and baseless.
He argues that the statements were made with the sole intent of “tarnishing and lowering” his client’s reputation and have also caused his client “great embarrassment, psychological trauma, emotional distress and public humiliation.”
The lawyer said that Mohamed is widely popular and well-known for his philanthropic efforts as he supports multiple charities, not-for-profit organisations and events. and Guyanese who are in need of financial assistance relating to social, economic, or medical hardship.
Despite sending Sergeant Bascom a legal letter of demand on August 12, calling on him to retract the first statement, apologise and pay compensation, Mohamed said that the Police rank went on to make other offending words, utterances and statements about him.
Mohamed has vehemently denied Sergeant Bascom’s accusations.
