Assistant Commissioner of Police and Head of the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU), Fazil Karimbaksh, has filed a multi-million dollar defamation suit against journalist Leroy Smith, seeking over $600 million in damages.

The suit, filed Friday in Georgetown High Court, accused Smith of publishing a series of defamatory statements on several online platforms designed to tarnish Karimbaksh’s reputation.
The lawsuit alleged that between September and October 2024, Smith, who operates the online news platform “Big Smith News Watch” and associated Facebook page, made several allegations against Karimbaksh, questioning his leadership of SOCU and accusing unethical behavior within the unit.

The statements in question, according to the legal filing by lawyer Ron Motilall, were intended to lower Karimbaksh’s esteem in the eyes of the public and his colleagues in the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
Karimbaksh is seeking $100 million in damages for each of six separate publications made between September 11 and October 23, 2024. In addition to financial compensation, the deputy commissioner is seeking an injunction to prevent further defamatory statements and a court order to- It forces Smith to remove the offending content from its platforms.

In the lawsuit, Karimbaksh pointed to certain articles and posts made by Smith on the “Big Smith News Watch” website and Facebook page. According to the document, the first allegedly defamatory statement was published on September 11, 2024, under the heading “SOCU agents’ violation of their oath is criminal”. Furthermore, Smith questioned whether Karimbaksh, if promoted, would be able to handle national security issues.
The October 13, 2024 post titled “No Qualifications Listed for SOCU Chief to Support Promotion to DC” further fueled the controversy. (DC stands for Deputy Commissioner).

Smith claimed that Karimbaksh, despite being on the promotion list for Deputy Commissioner of Police, did not have the academic qualifications required for the role.
The lawsuit said additional publications continued to implicate Karimbaksh in controversial transactions. On October 16, 2024, Smith published an article titled “SOCU Confirms its Case Against Brutus is Weak and on Life Support”, stating that SOCU had failed to secure sufficient evidence to charge Deputy Commissioner Calvin Brutus with financial crimes.

The article suggested that Karimbaksh’s leadership was ineffective and his unit was unable to fulfill its mandate.
On October 17, 2024, another article alleged that SOCU engaged in evidence tampering and witness tampering during the Brutus investigation. The article was titled “SOCU Tampered Evidence, Witnesses Intimidated/Threatened”.

The final publication, made on October 23, 2024, accused Karimbaksh of helping Brutus purchase a property in West Demerara. This article was titled “SOCU boss contributes 25% to Brutus’ $20m purchase of Schoonord property”.

Karimbaksh said the words were false, malicious and designed to embarrass him, injure his status and undermine authority within the police force.
According to his statement, the defamatory publications resulted in “considerable injury, distress and embarrassment”, exposing him to damage to his reputation both publicly and within his professional community. The suit alleged that the publications caused the public and his subordinates to question his competence, character and integrity.

At the time of the filing, Smith had not publicly commented on the lawsuit. According to legal procedures, he has 42 days to file a defense in response to the request. If Smith does not respond within the specified time, the court may rule in favor of Karimbaksh in his absence.

Karimbaksh, through his lawyer, demanded a retraction and apology from Smith following the publication of the allegedly defamatory article by “Big Smith News Watch”.
The letter outlined the professional and personal harm caused to the senior policeman and demanded an apology and retraction, threatening legal action if those demands were not met.