Businessman Azruddin Mohamed has filed a $200 million lawsuit against Police Sergeant Dion Bascom for implicating him in the murder of Ricardo Fagundes called ‘Paper Shorts’. Analysts believe, however, that the lawsuit seems to be in tension with Sections (17) and (18) of the Protected Disclosure Act or The whistle-blower Act of Guyana.
According to Section 17 (1) of the Act and “subject to section 18 (1), a person who makes, receives, investigates, or otherwise deals with a protected disclosure shall not be liable to any criminal, civil or disciplinary proceedings by reason of having made, received, investigated or otherwise dealt with that protected disclosure in accordance with this Act.
Section 18. (1) says that “Subject to subsection (3), nothing in this part shall prevent the institution of criminal proceedings against a person who makes a disclosure of Improper conduct, where that person was the perpetrator of, or an accomplice.
No civil proceedings
Mohamed’s lawsuit against Sergeant Bascom, some analysts contend, violates the intent and spirit of Section 17 (1). The section is clear “a person who makes, receives, investigates or otherwise deals with a protected disclosure shall not be liable to any criminal, CIVIL or disciplinary proceedings…”
Bascom, in a now-viral Facebook video on August 11, 2022, 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, accused the businessman and senior police officers of a massive cover-up in the investigation into the execution of Fagundes.
The Police Sergeant was the lead investor looking into the execution-style murder of Fagundes, 42, also known as ‘Paper Shorts’, a gold miner and biker of Kitty, Georgetown who was gunned down outside a popular Night Club on Main Street, Georgetown in March 2021.
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