Judge orders receiver to pay $1.7b to Didco

-failed to obtain best price for property

Justice Navindra Singh yesterday ruled that the Receiver/Manager of Didco Trading Company  did not exercise due skill and care in obtaining the best price for its flagship property and he issued a judgment against him of $1.7b.

The Receiver in this case was Harry Noel Narine. The judgment will again underline the issue of whether receivers do due diligence in relation to the various stakeholders.

DIDCO Trading Com-pany Limited (in Receiver-ship) and its owner Deonarine Singh had filed a case in court against Narine after he had sold its East Bank Demerara property for US$10m in 2021.

The case had its genesis in DIDCO Trading failing to pay instalments on its loans from the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI). As a consequence GBTI appointed Narine to preside over the disposal of Didco’s assets to enable a settlement of the debt. After several injunctions were discharged, Narine proceeded to sell the property to Demerara Boating Inc (DBI) on July 20th, 2021 for US$10m or $2.1b. By then however, the oil boom along the East Bank had seen an inflation in interest in such properties and the case revolved around what was the fair value for the property at the time the sale actually proceeded.