By -Jessica M. DeBois (MIAMI) – A Guyanese-American businessman and his U.S. companies are seeking the help of a Florida federal court in regaining access to their property in the Republic of Guyana.
The businessman, Lex Barker, and his companies, ISS Aviation Inc. and Instant Security Service Inc., filed their lawsuit June 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The named defendants include the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation, or CJIAC, and the airport’s CEO, Ramesh Ghir. John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 also are listed on the complaint.
The plaintiffs seek compensation for the alleged wrongful seizure of an aircraft hangar, the two aircraft within it, and various other aircraft equipment and parts by Guyana – a country on South America’s North Atlantic Coast – CJIAC, and Ghir.
“Plaintiff Owner is and has been a resident of Florida since 2014, where he has suffered severe financial losses and lost business opportunities for his air charter and commercial air tour flights around Miami, Florida, and the United States because he lost access to the two aircraft and spare parts it relies on stored in ISS Aviation (US)’s hangar in Guyana,” the complaint states.
“And Plaintiff ISS Aviation (US)’s business operations were disrupted because without the Hangar it could not provide logistical support for clients’ flights between Miami, Florida, to Guyana and to other countries in South America.”
In their 53-page filing, the plaintiffs go as far as allege that Guyana officials, CJIAC, and Ghir “conspired with drug traffickers” to target Barker.
Barker, a Florida resident, holds advanced degrees in aeronautical science and business administration. He also has a Federal Aviation Authority, or FAA, commercial license to fly single- and twin-engine airplanes and helicopters.
According to the complaint, he has been in the business of selling helicopters, airplanes, aircraft engines, and aircraft parts since 1990. He owns multiple U.S.-based companies and their Guyana affiliates that have sold aircraft to the Guyana government and provided support services for aircraft traveling between Florida and Guyana and other South American countries.
Beginning in 2003, Barker and ISS rented and eventually bought the rights to a hangar at CJIA, managed by CJIAC and Ghir. Their rights to use the CJIA hangar were set out in a land lease agreement with CJIAC, the filing states.
The CJIA hangar became the focal point for a number of companies and projects Barker controlled that operated in the aviation industry and other industries in Guyana and state of Florida, including by flying new and used helicopters and spare parts for customers from Miami to Guyana and often onto other South American countries.
According to the complaint, Barker’s companies also sold aircraft to the government of Guyana, supported mining companies with security and logistics, supported VIP investors and dignitaries, trained Guyana defense forces pilots, supplied helicopters for military and law enforcement operations against drug traffickers, and assisted the government with search and rescue operations.
“However, nearly from the start of Plaintiffs’ operations, drug traffickers allied with corrupt officials of Defendants Republic of Guyana, CJIAC, and Ghir viewed Plaintiff Owner and his activities as a threat to their operations,” the complaint states, pointing to known drug trafficker Khamraj Lall.
The plaintiffs allege Lall, who operated a rival aviation company out of the airport, smuggled cocaine from Guyana into Miami and the New Jersey-New York area, generating “millions” and paid off corrupt Guyana officials.
“In Defendants’ view, Plaintiffs, by selling helicopters and leasing their helicopter to the Guyana Defense Forces, providing maintenance support and aviation logistics to the Guyana Defense Forces’ helicopters threatened the continued viability of these smuggling operations,” the complaint states.
Barker and his companies contend the defendants “continuously partnered” with drug traffickers, including Lall, to remove the threat posed by the plaintiffs.
They allege in 2004 that CJIAC employees “facilitated an attempt” to sabotage their plane on a flight path from Guyana to Fort Lauderdale and kill Barker. Then, in 2011, CJIAC and Ghir allegedly “took steps to frustrate, interrupt, and suppress” the plaintiffs’ business by hindering access to the airport and hangar, the filing states.
At the same time, the plaintiffs allege, CJIAC and Ghir were “doling out favors” to Lall, including granting his company a lease for a hangar without following standard operating procedures.
In November 2014, Lall was arrested by special agents acting on behalf of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Homeland Security in Puerto Rico.
In October 2018, a federal U.S. jury found Lall guilty for trafficking hundreds of kilos of cocaine from Guyana into the New Jersey-New York area and laundering more than $10.2 million. Lall remains in federal custody.
The plaintiffs allege Guyana, CJIAC, and Ghir retaliated against Barker in March 2017, believing Barker contributed to Lall’s arrest.
“With no notice, they chained the doors to the CJIA Hangar, announced that they were terminating his companies’ access, and then repeatedly rebuffed his efforts to resolve the situation,” the complaint states. “These acts denied Plaintiff Owner and his staff access to the hangar, two aircraft, and equipment inside.”
The plaintiffs contend they have made “diligent efforts” to regain access to their property, appealing to members of the Guyana government and obtaining assistance from the U.S. State Department and U.S. Embassy in Guyana.
“To date, Defendants Republic of Guyana, CJIAC, and Ghir have refused to return access and ownership of the hangar and the aircraft to Plaintiff Owner and his companies,” the complaint states. “In doing so, they violated Plaintiffs’ rights under international law and Guyana law, giving rise to claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and negligence.
“Plaintiffs – a U.S. citizen and his U.S. companies – now turn to this Court because they have no further recourse to pursue in Guyana.”
In their filing, the plaintiffs contend Guyana courts are corrupt, noting they “routinely act” to protect criminal drug traffickers from liability.
“Authorities often drop charges or never file them and do not conduct serious investigations; traffickers are able to evade prosecution,” according to a State Department narcotics control strategy report published this year, the complaint states.
Another report, published in March 2023, noted that “political will is needed to dismantle trafficking networks linked to corrupt individuals in the public and private sector.”
“As Plaintiff Owner can attest, Defendants Republic of Guyana, CJIAC, and Ghir have no inclination to abandon their support of those networks,” the filing states.
The plaintiffs seek a declaration affirming their right of access to the hangar and right of ownership to the two aircraft and all equipment and property within the hangar, and their right to the immediate access to and return of the property.
They also seek an order directing the defendants return the property, an award of compensatory damages, pre- and post-judgment interest on any award, and costs, including attorneys’ fees.
Menefee Law out of Montgomery, Ala., and Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley PA, out of West Palm Beach, are representing the plaintiffs. (Legalnewsline)
