Another billionaire businessman and government contractor has stepped forward to deny allegations linked to him by gold trader, Junior Baksh.

Businessman, Satynarine Sahadeo aka “Sonna” issued a statement this afternoon through his VALS Construction company denying several statements attributed to him by gold dealer Junior Baksh in an interview with journalist, Travis Chase.

In his statement, Sahadeo said the allegations made against him are entirely false, and are baseless, misleading and designed solely to damage his personal and professional reputation.

He admitted to sharing a friendship with Junior Baksh for more than 25 years and claims that during that time, Baksh provided him with loans to support his mining operations. He said he borrowed more than $799 million from Baksh and has since repaid him over $1.6 billion, which he said more than doubled the amount that he borrowed.

He said Baksh is now claiming that he owes him an additional GYD $460 million, adding that the demand is based on a unilateral and unjustified increase in the interest rate of the loan from 5% to an exorbitant 10% which he never agreed to.

Sahadeo admitted that he stopped making further payments because he considered the alleged demands by Baksh to be excessive and exploitative. He said when the payments stopped, Baksh started to make “wild, defamatory, and politically charged allegations” against him.

“The allegations that I am engaged in improper dealings with government officials including His Excellency, the President, and that I act as an agent for government contracts and corrupt payments are categorically denied. These allegations appear not only to be part of a calculated campaign to publicly damage my reputation but also the reputation and image of high-ranking public officials”, Sahadeo stated.

He also denied being in a business partnership with the President or any promises or awards of government contracts from him or any public official.

He said he has never paid, nor been required to pay, any percentage of any contract to the President, his mother, or any individual acting on his behalf.

Sahadeo also said he has not, and has never been, an agent, proxy, or financial intermediary for any public official, including the Minister of Natural Resources, adding that he has had no involvement in any scheme to transfer mining shares or block ownership to government ministers.

He also said he has never facilitated or promised any portion of mining interests to any minister, or channeled payments to them, adding that the allegations are entirely baseless and are made with the intent to mislead and defame.

Sahadeo said there is an active legal matter before the court between Mr. Baksh and him concerning the financial claims which were made.

He said the dispute is being addressed through the proper judicial process, and he remains committed to allowing the court to determine the facts.

In May of this year, the High Court handed down a decision in the matter, ordering Sahadeo to pay Baksh over $400 million. It is unclear whether the matter was appealed.

Sahadeo in his statement complained that Baksh has allegedly continued to act with hostility towards him. He also expressed concern that he was allegedly personally contacted at one stage by businessman turned politician Azruddin Mohamed regarding the alleged outstanding amount owed to Baksh.

The businessman said he is committed to conducting all of his affairs, personal and professional – with integrity, transparency, and in full compliance with the law.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement today, businessman Junior Baksh indicated that the interview that he gave to the journalist, Travis Chase, should not have been released without his permission or unless he was harmed.

While the interview was released this morning by rights activist, Melissa Atwell, on her social media pages, it was conducted back in March.

In his statement today, Baksh said he apologised to the President in June over allegations made against the President’s mother and her alleged involvement in the collection of money. Baksh said the information was relayed to him by Sahadeo, who now claims that he never provided such information.

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