Invoice issued by NICIL for rent addressed to Jianfen Yu (sub lessee) for rent for Land Lease Plots A17, A 18 and A 19) for 2020.

Mr. Hughes was responding to a media release by the NICIL which said documents that its former CEO Colvin Heath-London is using in his defence does not exist in its records and is alleging forgery.

“In any event and most importantly, the content of that document and the decisions contained therein are not recorded in any minutes of any meeting of the Board of NICIL on that date or at all. In the circumstances, NICIL will formally request that the Guyana Police Force investigate that document as an alleged forgery,” NICIL said in a statement.

The document released by Mr. Hughes on Sunday stated, among other things, that the now late Chief Executive Officer, Horace James had in January 2018, before the passage of the no-confidence motion, proposed that the lease transactions should be amended to facilitate sub-letting to create greater competition for local companies and nationals to benefit from the oil and gas industry. Titled a “Board Note” the document was dated the 2nd January 2018 approved and stamped by Mr. James 12th January 2018 and received by NICIL/SPU on 15th January 2018.

Receipts issued by NICIL to Jiafen Yu for the payment of the rental by the Sub lessee for the properties

But NICIL said Sunday that after a careful examination of the “unsigned document,” it concluded that that document never emanated from NICIL or is part of the minutes of any NICIL Board meeting.

However, in response, attorney Nigel Hughes in a release this morning, drew attention to an invoice issued by NICIL for rent addressed to Jianfen Yu (sub lessee) for rent for Land Lease Plots A17, A 18 and A 19) for 2020.

Mr. Hughes also released copies of receipts issued by NICIL to Jiafen Yu for the payment of the rental by the Sub lessee for the aforementioned properties.

While the government has been suggesting that such transactions had been made after the passage of the no-confidence motion in December 2018, Mr. Heath-London on Sunday used the Board note to show that the decision to allow for sub-letting of leases was made in January 2018 with Mr. James at the helm of NICIL.

Mr. Heath-London, according to Mr. Hughes, was arrested on Friday morning for alleged conspiracy to  defraud and he remains in police custody, although station bail was requested.

-30-