Express
Jack may face more probes
Story Updated: Apr 22, 2013
Former UNC minister Jack Warner may be very vulnerable to investigation by the Integrity Commission and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
This is the view of former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj.
Former Law Association president Dana Seetahal also believes that there may be issues in terms of the Code of Conduct of the Integrity Commission but needs to study the Concacaf Integrity Committee Report more fully to determine whether these issues rise to the standard of an offence.
Chairman of the Integrity Commission Ken Gordon did not want to say much.
Asked yesterday whether the findings of the Concacaf Integrity Committee as well as some of the information in the ongoing expose by head of the Express Investigative Desk, Camini Marajh, would now be matters of interest to the Integrity Commission, Gordon said, “I don’t know why you say whether they would now be of interest.”
Gordon directed the Express to the Integrity Commission’s last report, pointing out that there were some 70 matters being investigated. “That is a good starting point,” he said.
But Maharaj said there might be grounds for a civil and criminal case. He said with regard to the “very serious findings’ of the Simmons Committee and the information in Marajh’s articles, they give rise to possible civil wrong but also possible criminal action. And quite apart from this, it could give rise to grounds for an investigation. It would seem to me that the Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago has responsibility as the guardian of the public interest to formally send the Simmons Report and the Camini Marajh article to the Commissioner of Police and also write to the Director of Public Prosecutions, sending him a copy, and also a copy to the Integrity Commission,” he said.
Seetahal said the findings of the Simmons Report dealt with actions involving a foreign association and Warner. “This would involve the offence of corruption under our law because corruption under our law would have to do with a State body,” she said, adding that it would not amount to an offence under our law. She said on the issues of “fraudulent conversion or misappropriation,” she would have to study the report in greater detail. She also pointed out that these findings were made without hearing from Warner, who chose not to give testimony. She said the Australian government’s position was interesting because they said they sent a certain amount of money to be used for a clear purpose and they were asking for accounting insofar as that purpose is concerned. On Marajh’s articles, she said once there are issues as to conduct in Trinidad and Tobago, then “our authorities should properly investigate it”. She said Warner must want to see an investigation to have these matters put to rest if he is innocent and they (the allegations) are all malicious as he says.
On the resignation, Seetahal said Warner did the right thing. “To continue would have been an embarrassment to the Government and bearing in mind that the entire Simmons report was made public internationally, it would have been an embarrassment for the country.
She said the report had not merely allegations, but “conclusions” of fraud. She said the former minister (Warner) must have recognised the angst the report would have caused many people, including the Prime Minister.
Maharaj said the resignation was long overdue. But up to 48 hours prior to the announcement of his resignation, Warner was saying that he was not going to resign, so the question was, what caused him to change his mind within the last 24 to 48 hours. Maharaj said it also showed that the Prime Minister was a very weak leader, because she should have taken steps months ago to have Warner removed from the Cabinet. He said the members of the Partnership collectively accepted Warner as a fit and proper member of the Cabinet. “So the entire Government is contaminated and this (issue) needs a fresh mandate from the population.”
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