-promises projects will restart on Sept. 15
A principal of Modular Builds Guyana has acknowledged delays and disputes affecting some of the company’s construction projects but has denied allegations of fraud and promised that work will resume on September 15.
Hardeep Singh in a recorded public statement, rejected allegations that the company collected approximately $145 million from four clients without intending to complete their projects or that he had left Guyana to escape responsibility.
“I will not claim that every one of those projects has proceeded without difficulty,” Singh said. “There have been delays, commercial pressures and disputes.”
He said he understood the frustration experienced by clients when construction did not proceed according to the original timetable but maintained that delays did not prove that the contracts had been entered into with the intention of stealing their money.
“I take legitimate concerns seriously, but accepting that projects have experienced difficulties is fundamentally different from accepting an allegation that I entered those contracts intending to steal clients’ money,” he said.
Singh said the $145 million figure appeared to combine payments made by four clients under separate construction contracts and then characterise the entire amount as having been stolen.
According to him, Modular Builds had been involved in acquisition talks with a company called Rise Guyana, which was expected to purchase the business and assume its contractual liabilities.
Singh said clients were notified approximately six weeks ago of the proposed acquisition. However, the transaction collapsed three weeks later and clients were subsequently informed that Modular Builds would resume responsibility for the projects from September 15.
He disputed some of the information reportedly provided by complainants, including an allegation that the company had been contracted to construct an 11-storey building. Singh said its technology allowed it to construct buildings of no more than four storeys.
He also rejected the suggestion that the payments represented advances for which no work had been performed. According to him, the company’s contracts provide for a 40% initial payment, followed by payments when specified construction milestones are reached.
Singh acknowledged that the clients might collectively have paid the sum reported but said the amount included deposits and milestone payments.
He argued that each project should be independently assessed against its contract, agreed scope of works, payment schedule, variations, materials purchased and work completed.
According to Singh, the company has documents showing expenditure on designs, engineering, mobilisation, labour, machinery, manufacturing and imported and locally produced materials.
“Contracts exist, payment records exist, project correspondence exists, procurement and expenditure—everything exists,” he said.
Singh said he was not asking the public to accept his account without scrutiny but wanted the issues determined on the evidence.
He promised that all the disputed projects would be completed.
“I will 100% ensure that all of these projects get done and finished,” he said. “I know that actions speak louder than words.”
Did not flee
Singh also denied that he had fled Guyana with clients’ money, saying he is a British national involved in international businesses and travels regularly.
“My presence outside of Guyana should not be misrepresented as evidence of guilt or an attempt to evade legitimate obligations,” he said.
He maintained that Modular Builds still owns machinery, steel, vehicles, trucks, excavators and other equipment in Guyana. He argued that he would not have left those assets here had he intended to abandon the business.
Singh said he was prepared to provide the Guyana Police Force or any other competent authority with the company’s records through the proper legal process. However, he said that the police had not contacted him despite reports that an investigation was underway.
He said the fact that complaints had been made did not establish that the allegations contained in them were true.
“There is an important distinction between an allegation and an established fact,” Singh said.
He said that legal advice was being sought over what he described as defamatory statements and the publication of confidential personal information.
Singh warned media entities, individuals and social-media administrators to distinguish between reporting that allegations had been made and presenting those allegations as established facts. His lawyers would pursue the matter through the courts where necessary, he added.
He also disputed reports concerning companies and addresses associated with him in the United Kingdom, arguing that historical corporate information, changes of registered addresses and clerical inconsistencies did not establish fraud.
Kiskadee Watch reported on Saturday that Modular Builds Guyana had issued an earlier statement denying that its chief executive officer had fled with customers’ money. The company said then that it remained operational and was taking legal action over the reports.
The company has previously received public exposure from the government. In May 2024, Housing Minister Collin Croal said he accompanied President Irfaan Ali on a tour of prefabricated houses being constructed by Modular Builds at Leonora.
Croal said the company was producing two-bedroom homes with fire-resistant insulation and that its first house had been constructed in seven days. The tour was led by Singh and another employee.
Singh said the company had employed more than 150 people during its three years in Guyana and had completed projects at airports and around Georgetown.
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