Syntax help please

I can't for the life of me figure out what's wrong with this syntax. I get the following error when i try and create this function.

ERROR:  syntax error at or near "$2" at character 15
QUERY:  SELECT   $1   $2  :=  $3  ||  $4  ||  $5
CONTEXT:  SQL statement in PL/PgSQL function "fcn_gen_statement" near line 24

here's what i am trying to create:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION fcn_gen_statement(p_type varchar,
                                             p_where varchar,
                                             p_newonly numeric)
RETURNS varchar AS $$

DECLARE
    c_select varchar(64) := 'select count(distinct m.id) ';
    c_from varchar(64) := 'from job m ';
    c_newonly_from varchar(128) := 'from (select id, min(date_created) as date_created '||
                                         'from hr '||
                                         'group_by id) m ';
    v_from varchar(512);
    v_where varchar(512);
    v_stmt varchar(2048);                                 

BEGIN
    if p_newonly = 1 then
        v_from := c_newonly_from;
    else
        v_from := c_from;
    end if;

    if upper(p_type) = 'NEW' then
        v_stmt := c_select || v_from || p_where;
    elsif upper(p_type) = 'OLD' then
        v_from := c_from ;
        v_where := p_where
        v_stmt := c_select || v_from || v_where;
    elsif upper(p_type) = 'LAST_JOB' then
        v_from := v_from ||
            ', (select distinct job_id ' ||
            'from job_log' ||
            'where status = 10) d ';
        v_where := p_where ||
            'and m.id = d.job_id ';
        v_stmt := c_select || v_from || v_where;
    elsif upper(p_type) = 'NEW_JOB' then
        v_from := v_from ||
            ', (select distinct job_id ' ||
            'from job_log' ||
            'where status = 12) d ';
        v_where := p_where ||
            'and m.id = d.job_id ';
        v_stmt := c_select || v_from || v_where;

    end if;
    return (v_stmt);
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;