Six top T&T accused in court today on 45 charges

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — The two former cabinet ministers, a leading entrepreneur and three other top private sector business people are due to appear today before Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicholls to answer a number of wide ranging charges, including “misbehaviour in public office” an offence that carries life imprisonment on conviction.

They were charged and placed on total bail amounting to over TT$10 million (TT$6-=US$1) on Saturday afternoon when they voluntarily turned themselves over to the police, accompanied by their lawyers.

Their arrests had been ordered by the director of public prosecutions (DDP), Mark Mohammed, after he had considered the reports of investigations carried out by the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Force.

At the centre of the related charges are entrepreneur Ishwar Galbaransingh, who was placed on TT$3 million bail; his business partner and former cabinet minister in governments of both the People’s National Movement and United National Congress between 1991 and 2000, Brian Kuei Tung; and their legal adviser, Russell Huggins, a former national security minister of the 1991-95 PNM administration of current prime minister, Patrick Manning.

In addition to Galbaransingh, Kuei Tung and Huggins, also facing charges are the ex-finance minister’s fiancee, Renee Pierre, and two top officials of companies owned by Galbaransingh, John Smith, a chief executive officer and Amrith Maharaj, financial director and secretary of the Maritime Group of Companies and Northern Construction respectively.

Charges have also been instituted against the companies. The 45 charges include some to have been instituted for the first time under the Proceeds of Crime Act, 2000, a legislation that was introduced by the then government of former prime minister Basdeo Panday.

Kuei Tung, a high-profile businessman and former eloquent defender of fiscal and economic policies of governments of both Manning and Panday, is claiming that the charges were nothing but politics. “It is all politically motivated. I will clear my name,” he said.

Some of the charges are related to allegations of misdeeds in the contract awarded to Galbarandsingh’s Northern Construction which built the country’s ultra modern international airport at Piarco, a TT$1.4-billion project.

Caribbean/UK Forum in Guyana

GEORGETOWN, Guyana — The Third Caribbean/United Kingdom Forum that focuses on trade, aid, investment and general improved co-operation opens in Guyana on Wednesday, April 3.

The UK delegation will be headed by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and the Caribbean Community’s will include its current chairman, Rudy Insanally, foreign minister of Guyana.

Dr Roger Luncheon, cabinet secretary and head of the Presidential Secretariat, in speaking of the host government’s preparedness for the meeting, being organised in co-operation with the Caribbean Community Secretariat, said that there would be a full-scale review of the “state of engagements” between the UK and the Caribbean.

All member states of Caricom, as well as Haiti and Cuba, which are part of the Caribbean Forum of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries linked to trade and economic arrangements with the European Union, are expected to attend the forum as observers.