Financial Investigation at Deeds Registry

PRESS RELEASE

April 25, 2017

Attorney General’s Chambers &

Ministry of Legal Affairs

95 Carmichael Street

North Cummingsburg

Georgetown

Tel. No. 225-3607

FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION AT

DEEDS REGISTRY

Staff of the Deeds Registry of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority has called upon the Ministry of Legal Affairs to investigate their complaints of alleged financial improprieties committed by acting Registrar of Deeds Ms. Azeena Baksh.

The Ministry of Legal Affairs has referred the complaints to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) through Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum.

Both the Human Resource and Accounting Departments  have complained that  as Head of the Budget Agency  and sole person  in authority to approve  and sign off  the payroll of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority  and one of the main signatories  on the Authority’s Bank  Account,  the Registrar unlawfully  paid herself gratuity well knowing she  was a pensionable  employee having been appointed by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC).

Registrar Baksh further unlawfully paid herself a higher salary than was approved by the JSC.

The Deeds Registry officers have disclosed that these payments started since 2014 and continued  up to the present  and amount to nearly four and half million dollars ($4.5M).

Moreover the Deeds Registry has also  laid over with the Ministry of Legal Affairs  documents revealing  that Registrar Baksh  out of  revenue  due,  owing  and payable  to the Authority  in or around the sum of  eight million five hundred and forty four thousand dollars ($8,544,000.00),  unlawfully waived  the sum  of seven  million  and  forty  four thousand dollars    ($7,044,000.00) upon the request  of an Attorney-at-Law, who paid only the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500.000.00).

Attorney General Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs.