In a case that intertwines land disputes, alleged fraud and political influence, Akicha Coates, a devoted mother of two, is speaking out about what she claims is a gross miscarriage of justice involving a property she purchased in 2004.
Coates, who relocated from Guyana to St. Kitts and Nevis with her husband in 2001, invested in a piece of land within the Richmond Housing Scheme on the Essequibo Coast.
She agreed to pay $400,000 for the property, with the understanding that the land would be transferred into her name in 2011 by the seller, Ricardo Sim. According to Coates, Sim is a distant relative.
“Mr. Sim was only going to do an agreement of sale because he couldn’t transfer the transport at the time. The transport was a 2003 transport and it would be up to transfer in 2011,” Coates explained.
When Coates returned to Guyana in 2011, her mother informed her that Mr. Sim had left a power of attorney with a relative named Marva Sim. However, upon contacting Marva, Coates was told that no such document had been left for her.
For 18 years, Coates said she managed the land despite having no clear communication about the whereabouts of the important documents.
“In 2018 I completely fill the land, get an excavator, dig out front drain and back drain, now I started to upgrade the drainage system, I changed it from wood into concrete. As I get the money, I do bit by bit, so it was years’ work going on on the land. I continued to plant permanent crop in the back cause I know I was going to live in the back and I was going to build the house in front,” she detailed.
However, in July 2021, Coates was stunned to find a “no trespassing” sign posted on her land by Mr. Sim. Legal advice revealed that Sim had changed his mind about the sale, citing a breach of contract.
Sim promised to compensate Coates for the work she had done and the land was subsequently sold to Shurwayne Holder, an opposition Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Opposition.
Coates took her case to the High Court in Essequibo after discovering that Holder’s mother was also named Marva Sim and had held the power of attorney all along.
During a visit to Marva’s home, Coates was told, “Mr. Sim said to give you back your money because the land is for Shurwayne.”
When Coates requested contact information for Sim, Marva allegedly said she had none.
Frustrated by the lack of transparency, Coates said she persisted in trying to contact Sim. She was eventually told that Sim would call her, but instead, she received a letter from Sim’s lawyer accusing her of breaching the agreement and informing her that the contract was terminated.
Coates later learned from Sim himself that he no longer wished to sell her the land and that the agreement had been made “in good faith.”
Coates said she initially paid $200,000 of the $400,000 and was supposed to settle the remainder upon transfer in 2011. She claims that Holder exploited his political position to secure the land despite knowing it had been sold previously.
Represented by Gordon Gillhouse, Coates lost the case in April 2024 due to insufficient evidence and was ordered to pay Holder $125,000. Holder’s legal team was led by attorney and Opposition MP Roysdale Forde.
Just two weeks after the court ruling, Holder allegedly reached out with an offer of $1 million to settle the matter and forego the $125,000.
Coates declined the offer and has since hired opposition activist and attorney Darren Wade to file an appeal, expressing dissatisfaction with her previous lawyer’s handling of the case.
She claims that Gillhouse’s negligence in filing the appeal in the Full Court instead of the Court of Appeal also cost her another $100,000 fine.
“I just want to share my story because I think it was a great injustice because Shurwayne Holder is the Chairman of the Opposition, a Member of Parliament and I think he took advantage of his position,” Coates stated, hoping that her story will shed light on her plight and draw attention to the broader implications of her case.
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