Tower Suites co-owner held in Jamaica for drug trafficking
Following what has been described as “months of investigation” involving local, regional and international authorities, Guyanese businessman Shervington ‘Big Head’ Lovell was arrested along with two others on Thursday morning at the Normal Manley International Airport in Jamaica on drug trafficking charges. Lovell, who owns major hotels in Guyana, inclusive of the Tower Suites, is now to be extradited to the US along with a Surinamese and a Venezuelan with whom he was arrested, according to a senior law enforcement official. Stabroek News was told that the men may have appeared in a Kingston court on Thursday and waived their rights to fight the extradition. Lovell kept in the shadows of his investments, which were in the hundreds of millions. And although he was previously sought for questioning here in connection with a series of murders, he had never been charged. “It has been several months of investigations… between local, regional and international partners,” a law enforcement source told this newspaper. The source said Lovell was tracked when he left Guyana.
Kennard upbraids mayor over handling of motion against Town Clerk
Georgetown Mayor Patricia Chase-Green was yesterday upbraided by retired judge Cecil Kennard over her handling of a key no-confidence motion earlier this year against embattled Town Clerk Royston King. The atmosphere at the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the operations of the city administration turned testy yesterday with the Chairman Kennard, demanding that the Mayor “shut up and listen” as well as take her “rude…attitude to City Hall.” Summoned to respond to five issues raised over the last few weeks of hearings, Chase-Green appeared at the Critchlow Labour College with a written response and legal representatives Lyndon Amsterdam and Latoya Roberts. Her testimony was delayed for 30 minutes to allow for copies of her written response to be provided to the Commission after which the Mayor was questioned about her handling of a no-confidence motion brought against King in March. Lawyer for the Commission Everton Singh-Lammy sought to have Chase-Green accept responsibility for the council vote, which disallowed the hearing of the motion brought by former Deputy Mayors Sherod Duncan and Lionel Jaikaran, both of the AFC.
Demerara Bank’s profit jumps to over $2B, up 28%
Demerara Bank says it has recorded a net profit of $2.041 billion for the year ended September 30, 2018, representing growth of 28% compared with the same period last year. In a statement issued yesterday, Demerara Bank said that due to its “excellent” performance in today’s “challenging” economy, its Founder and Chairman Dr. Yesu Persaud declared favourable dividends to be paid to the shareholders, with a final dividend payment of 100%, while the interim dividend paid was 35%, which was the highest paid in the history of the bank. The bank noted that it generated a gross profit of $3.127 billion in 2018, representing an increase of 31% over the gross profit of $2.396 billion recorded for 2017. The net profit of the bank also increased from $1.599 billion in 2017 to $2.041 billion in 2018, it added. The bank also reported that its deposit base rose to $58.2 billion in 2018 as compared to $57 billion in 2017, while loans and