March 28, 2024, 09:27:27 AM

Author Topic: The Jack Warner Thread.  (Read 423786 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline D.H.W

  • Forever Man Utd
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 17937
  • "Luck Favours The Prepared"
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1920 on: April 14, 2013, 05:24:39 AM »
Tanty Kamla. Your move AGAIN. Ah loving the Sunday morning action.
"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid."
Youtube Channel


Offline D.H.W

  • Forever Man Utd
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 17937
  • "Luck Favours The Prepared"
    • View Profile
Re: Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1921 on: April 14, 2013, 05:25:56 AM »
Ah find this tid bit of info interesting.......I could understand why the players would want to settle but if part of the deal involves no further action e.g. they can't refer anything to the fraud squad then I would be a bit disappointed.....

Sources with knowledge of the pay dispute say the players and the TTFF are unlikely to return to court and are close to reaching a settlement on the claim.

It’s one less tsunami for Jack Warner to worry about but it has washed up a lot of driftwood on his home shore.


Now would of been a good time to go behind him.
"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid."
Youtube Channel


Offline TdotTrini

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1214
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1922 on: April 14, 2013, 07:05:13 AM »
FBI/IRS trace Fifa funds to Africa

US$5m transfer to Trinis probed

Published:
Sunday, April 14, 2013
DENYSE RENNE
 
 
Ongoing investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have so far uncovered evidence showing the diversion of funds from one of Fifa’s main sponsors into the offshore accounts of a former senior Fifa official.
 
 
One of the accounts has been traced to an African country. Investigations, sources say, have also unearthed the inappropriate use of a credit card by a relative of the former official. The relative was held, questioned and subsequently released by US law enforcement in April last year, about to board a flight from Miami to Trinidad. Sources say the individual was questioned at length over several suspicious credit card transactions.
 
 
Explaining that large sums of money were placed on the cards, which bypassed the cards’ limits, the sources said several items were then purchased and, in some cases, cheques were made out to withdraw money from the credit card accounts and dispersed elsewhere. This sort of activity raised alarm bells from US officials, as the money placed on the cards could not be accounted for.
 
Sunday Guardian also learnt that another aspect of the case being investigated involved the handing-over of close to US$5 million to two Trinidadians by the representative of a contractor at a casino/hotel in Las Vegas. Both parties, sources say, met at the popular hotel and casino, where the money was handed over in return for favourable consideration in a major construction project here in Trinidad.
 
Sources said the manner in which the transaction was made drew the FBI/IRS’ attention to it. Both parties reportedly met at a game table and the representative of the construction firm reportedly purchased some gambling chits, placed a few bets at the table, then left the remaining chits with the Trinidadians and left the casino. The Trinidadians then cashed in the chits, which amounted to close to US$5 million, and deposited the money at a bank on the casino compound. The money was then wired to another account.
 
Since the transaction took place on US soil, FBI/IRS investigators have deemed it as a form of money-laundering. Both the FBI and IRS are investigating money-laundering, tax evasion and fraud matters. Earlier this month, international news agency Reuters reported that Daryan Warner, son of National Security Minister Jack Warner, was assisting the FBI and the IRS with an ongoing probe in the United States.
 
The article was written by Mark Hosenball and noted that “while the exact scope of the investigation is not clear, among the matters under scrutiny are two previously reported allegations involving Jack Warner. The deepening of the probe indicates that a succession of corruption scandals involving Fifa and other international soccer bodies in the past few years may continue to cast a cloud over the sport for some time.
 
Warner formerly headed Concacaf and was previously one of the vice-presidents of Fifa, soccer’s global governing body.” Following the report by Reuters, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar instructed Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran to enquire from the US authorities about the report. Ramlogan has indicated that he has written to US Attorney General Eric Holder but is yet to receive a response.
 
There have been calls for Warner’s removal in the wake of the report. However, Persad-Bissessar, in a media release, has indicated that she will not act until such time as she can verify the authenticity of the Reuters report.
 
 
US remains mum

Contacted on the matter, the US Department of Justice, which has responsibility for entertaining queries regarding the Office of the Attorney General Eric Holder, asked that the questions be e-mailed. Sunday Guardian complied but was subsequently informed there was no comment to be made.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-04-14/fbiirs-trace-fifa-funds-africa
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 11:08:58 AM by Bakes »
Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success

Offline D.H.W

  • Forever Man Utd
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 17937
  • "Luck Favours The Prepared"
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1923 on: April 14, 2013, 07:13:57 AM »
So it goes deeper now. Bribing to get local contracts. This is big. The longest rope have a end Jack.
"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid."
Youtube Channel


Offline mukumsplau

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2035
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1924 on: April 14, 2013, 07:24:32 AM »
FBI/IRS trace Fifa funds to Africa

http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-04-14/fbiirs-trace-fifa-funds-africa

Ongoing investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have so far uncovered evidence showing the diversion of funds from one of Fifa’s main sponsors into the offshore accounts of a former senior Fifa official.


One of the accounts has been traced to an African country. Investigations, sources say, have also unearthed the inappropriate use of a credit card by a relative of the former official. The relative was held, questioned and subsequently released by US law enforcement in April last year, about to board a flight from Miami to Trinidad. Sources say the individual was questioned at length over several suspicious credit card transactions.


Explaining that large sums of money were placed on the cards, which bypassed the cards’ limits, the sources said several items were then purchased and, in some cases, cheques were made out to withdraw money from the credit card accounts and dispersed elsewhere. This sort of activity raised alarm bells from US officials, as the money placed on the cards could not be accounted for.

Sunday Guardian also learnt that another aspect of the case being investigated involved the handing-over of close to US$5 million to two Trinidadians by the representative of a contractor at a casino/hotel in Las Vegas. Both parties, sources say, met at the popular hotel and casino, where the money was handed over in return for favourable consideration in a major construction project here in Trinidad.

Sources said the manner in which the transaction was made drew the FBI/IRS’ attention to it. Both parties reportedly met at a game table and the representative of the construction firm reportedly purchased some gambling chits, placed a few bets at the table, then left the remaining chits with the Trinidadians and left the casino. The Trinidadians then cashed in the chits, which amounted to close to US$5 million, and deposited the money at a bank on the casino compound. The money was then wired to another account.

Since the transaction took place on US soil, FBI/IRS investigators have deemed it as a form of money-laundering. Both the FBI and IRS are investigating money-laundering, tax evasion and fraud matters. Earlier this month, international news agency Reuters reported that Daryan Warner, son of National Security Minister Jack Warner, was assisting the FBI and the IRS with an ongoing probe in the United States.

The article was written by Mark Hosenball and noted that “while the exact scope of the investigation is not clear, among the matters under scrutiny are two previously reported allegations involving Jack Warner. The deepening of the probe indicates that a succession of corruption scandals involving Fifa and other international soccer bodies in the past few years may continue to cast a cloud over the sport for some time.

Warner formerly headed Concacaf and was previously one of the vice-presidents of Fifa, soccer’s global governing body.” Following the report by Reuters, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar instructed Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran to enquire from the US authorities about the report. Ramlogan has indicated that he has written to US Attorney General Eric Holder but is yet to receive a response.

There have been calls for Warner’s removal in the wake of the report. However, Persad-Bissessar, in a media release, has indicated that she will not act until such time as she can verify the authenticity of the Reuters report.


US remains mum
Contacted on the matter, the US Department of Justice, which has responsibility for entertaining queries regarding the Office of the Attorney General Eric Holder, asked that the questions be e-mailed. Sunday Guardian complied but was subsequently informed there was no comment to be made.

Offline TdotTrini

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1214
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1925 on: April 14, 2013, 07:36:29 AM »
Bank raises red flag with FIU

Govt official pays off $m loans in 6 months

Published:
Sunday, April 14, 2013
DENYSE RENNE
 
Republic Bank has alerted the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to the suspicious transactions of a senior government official. The bank, sources say, raised a “red flag” after the official paid off two million-dollar mortgages within a six-month time frame. One of the mortgages was for a property purchased through the official’s private company in 2010 valued at $1.75 million, while the other was for a property purchased in September 2011 at a cost of $3.3 million.
 
The bank initially started its own investigation late last year after discovering the mortgages were fully paid off. Bank officials noticed that apart from the monthly payments, the government official was also making payments on a daily basis towards the mortgages. The daily payments, sources say, were close to $42,000 and were paid at different banks throughout the country. Banking officials, however, say there is a $60,000 per day limit on the amount of money which can be deposited in personal accounts.
 
“Anything higher than this, individuals will have to declare a source of funds,” the banking official, who did not want to be named, told the Sunday Guardian.
 
According to banking regulations issued by the Central Bank, and under the heading large/suspicious transaction records, “financial institutions should review and properly document the background and purpose of all complex, unusual, or large transactions…every financial institution which receives cash, bank cheques, drafts, money orders or traveller’s cheques in an amount in excess of the threshold shall keep and retain a large transaction record...”
 
Following investigations by Republic Bank, it was discovered that the government official also has accounts with other banking institutions. However, no money was withdrawn during the said period in which the daily deposits to Republic were made on the mortgage accounts. It was after this internal probe was completed that Republic Bank alerted the FIU of the transactions.
 
In response to questions from the Sunday Guardian on the matter, Republic Bank, through its Corporate Communications and Marketing Department, said in a statement, "We are unable to reveal actual bank procedures. However, and as you would imagine, we cannot comment on any transactions which might or might not have occurred.
 
“The bank is guided by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2009 in identifying and reporting transactions which might be considered suspicious based on descriptions provided by Section 55 of the act.” The FIU, in a release in response to questions as to whether a report was made to them by Republic Bank, said such disclosures are confidential, adding should they be made public it would breach sections 21 and 24 of the FIU Act.
 
The intelligence unit is headed by Susan Francois, while Nigel Stoddard is its deputy director. Asked specifically whether the government official is currently being probed, the FIU said: "The subject of a suspicious transaction activity/reports (STR/SAR) is confidential information. The FIU cannot disclose the person who is the subject of a STR/SAR.
 
“The FIU cannot disclose whether it has sent an intelligence report to law enforcement agencies (LEA) for their investigation, or whether an investigation has commenced on an individual or legal entity.” The release further said should such confidences be breached, an FIU officer would face the penalty of a fine of $250,000 and three years' imprisonment.
 
Last August, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said some 300 reports involving suspicious-activity transactions were made to the FIU. He was speaking in the Senate on the Miscellaneous Provisions (Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago and Anti-Terrorism) Bill 2012.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 11:12:16 AM by Bakes »
Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success

Offline Football supporter

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5209
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1926 on: April 14, 2013, 08:06:29 AM »
How Warner built his empire: a tangled web of TTFF cash transfers, gifts and undeclared sponsorships
By Camini Marajh Head Investigative Desk (T&T Express).


$100m & MORE MISSING

It was a tale of treachery that caused a football tsunami the likes of which a vexed Austin Jack Warner had threatened to unleash on the House of FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) after his Zurich face-off with former close ally and FIFA president, Sepp Blatter.

Instead, it swept him away into a sea of much deeper corruption allegations and global law enforcement scrutiny.

Decades-old payments he had made from a CFU (Caribbean Football Union) bank account to an offshore company of another longstanding FIFA friend and confidant turned whistle-blower, Chuck Blazer, had caught the attention of United States authorities probing corruption in international football.

On March 27, Reuters reported that Warner’s son and business partner, Daryan, had turned “cooperating witness” to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US tax authorities, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in connection with a US$500,000 payout made over 20 years.

 Minister Warner has refused to address directly whether he is a person of interest or comment on his son’s role as a “cooperating witness” in an FBI football corruption investigation.

Meanwhile, in Panama City, another Pandora’s Box revealing more of Warner’s dark football secrets is set to open at CONCACAF’s Congress later this week. This one, too, is said to contain all the makings of a football tsunami of corruption claims and is expected to attract even more law enforcement interest.

The IRS is already digging deep into this particular box of muddled finances which leads right back to the Warner-Blazer duet, according to persons familiar with the situation.

At home, Sunday Express investigations into Warner’s activities reveal that the once powerful football figure--who had a box seat on the world and access to heads of state, private jets and corporate CEOs—used his network of football and political connections to build a family business empire and personal fortune of about $200 million which from all accounts is a conservative estimate.

Some of this money came from cash transfers from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) to bank accounts held in the names of private Warner companies; so-called cash “gifts” in the tens of millions of dollars; rich World Cup TV broadcast deals run through a Cayman-registered company; World Cup tickets racket and vast flows of income from several sources, including the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence at Macoya, property rentals and miscellaneous fees from football bodies.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Chaguanas West, who emerged as the top-ranked cabinet minister in two surveys and served at times as this country’s acting prime minister, has featured in repeated allegations of corruption over the years and up until the events of May 2011 remained an untouchable, protected in the main by his scandal-scarred football boss, Blatter, even from complaints emanating from within the FIFA oligarchy, according to FIFA board minutes seen by this reporter.

The one-time star Government Minister, badly damaged by the Mohamed bin Hammam cash-for-vote affair which was played out on his front lawn at a Port of Spain hotel, has vehemently denied all allegations of wrongdoing but has inexplicably refused to have his day in court—either at the FIFA Ethics Committee hearing or the International Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS)—opting instead to quit the bright lights of world football and to stay on the offensive, threatening a tsunami on Blatter’s House of FIFA and indulging in personal attacks against his detractors.

Even now, in the face of serious questions about financial irregularities in all of the football bodies he presided over—CONCACAF, CFU, TTFF and LOC (Local Organising Committee) Germany 2006 Ltd—Warner, the Minister of National Security in the People's Partnership Government, has refused to address specific questions put to him by this newspaper and has complained instead of being the “most vilified” public official in the land.

Sunday Express investigations show that the former special adviser to TTFF transferred out tens of millions of dollars from the national football association’s bank accounts to a local organising company, LOC Germany 2006 Ltd, which was set up by his personal accountant, Kenny Rampersad.

Warner was both a director and chairman of LOC Germany, the corporate vehicle set up to collect money for transfer to TTFF’s road to Germany 2006 World Cup campaign. He was also the man calling the shots, according to TTFF’s top officials, Oliver Camps and Richard Groden.

The two Warner front men were also directors in the February 2004-incorporated entity along with Warner’s other son, Daryll, and his secretary of long standing, Patricia Modeste.

On February 21, 2004, 15 days after LOC Germany opened shop, TTFF special adviser Warner, dispatched a single page of correspondence to LOC Germany. In it, he gave himself via the newly-registered company the power and authority to negotiate all sponsorships, endorsements, match arrangements and other money-spinning opportunities associated with the Soca Warriors qualification for the 2006 World Cup.

Bank statements, payment vouchers and other financial records obtained by the Sunday Express show a reversal of roles between the national football association and its duly-appointed “negotiating agent”, LOC Germany, with the agent company stripping TTFF’s accounts of surplus cash instead of paying out World Cup sponsorship money it had collected to designated accounts.

Documents also reveal that, at times, LOC Germany withdrew funds before it even hit the account.

Financial records show at least TT$100 million of public and private sector funds have gone missing. Tens of millions of dollars in World Cup funds were being tapped from TTFF’s bank accounts by the Warner-run LOC Germany entity and by private corporations owned by him, specifically Jamad Ltd, JAW Ltd and Sportel Ltd.

Four sets of financial statements produced in just as many years by Warner’s accountant-in-chief Rampersad show significant omissions from the balance sheet. Public grants and other sponsorship money that should have gone into TTFF’s bank accounts, according to official government records, have simply disappeared.

By the state’s own calculations, a minimum of $205.6 million in public and private sector funds were paid to the national football association in support of the 2006 World Cup campaign.

The various Rampersad financial statements, however, paint a far more modest picture. They reflect many discrepancies, conflicting numbers and more than $100 million missing in World Cup income.

Michael Townley, the British lawyer pursuing the Soca Warriors’ claim that Warner and the national football association drastically understated the Warriors

2006 World Cup income, described the financial information provided by TTFF and its accountant as “works of fiction”.

In pleadings made to a case management conference (CMC) before Justice Devindra Rampersad, Townley told of a tangled tale of opaque and misleading financial records, of the deliberate and continued attempt to conceal tens of millions of dollars to deny the players what is contractually owed to them and of Warner’s effective control of LOC Germany.

Townley told the court about the hardship of extracting credible information from the TTFF and its “rogue" agent Jack Warner—even in the face of legal orders. Townley spoke of the rigged game the football association has played with the court and its disregard for the process of law.

Sponsorship information provided to Townley by the previous administration reveal that $205.6 million in State and private sector contributions were made to the TTFF in support of the Soca Warriors historic 2006 World Cup qualification.

The schedule of payments show that the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs provided just over $60.3 million, government state agencies $21.8 million and private sector corporations, including Atlantic LNG, Adidas, BHP Billiton and British Gas, $88.1 million.

The government disclosure also cited a CHF 7 million (Swiss francs) or TT$35.2 million figure in relation to the qualification grant from FIFA.

But the first Rampersad account, dated October 5, 2006 and addressed to Warner in his capacity as president of CONCACAF (the body which represents football federations from North and Central America and the Caribbean), made no mention of the CHF 7 million FIFA grant or Atlantic LNG’s $3 million contribution.

The October statement gives a total sponsorship income of a mere $13 million.

Warner’s main man of business produced another set of accounts in November 2007 for an arbitration dispute headed to a London courtroom after the players rejected the 2006 financials and a settlement offer of just over $5,000 per player. Rampersad’s financials were addressed to Om Lalla, a key Warner attorney.

The FIFA grant appears in the 2007 accounts but the figure is trimmed by $1 million or TT$5 million. It also records for the first time a $600,000 grant from government but cuts the sponsorship income to $6.5m million. No explanation is given for these material adjustments.

In 2010, a court order forced the production of a financial statement for LOC Germany but this too contains significant omissions by Rampersad, who declares a total grant and sponsorship income of $54.5 million. More accounting games are played with the production of yet another set of court-ordered financial statements for TTFF in June 2011.

This one too has all the hallmarks of Rampersad, whose stock response to questions relating to the missing millions, built-in conflicts of interest, inflated expenses and understated income was: “I am not at liberty to discuss the affairs of my clients, past or present.”

He asked the Sunday Express to submit its questions in writing but up to press time there was no response.

The roster of sponsors named in the 2011 accounts show a $1.6 million grant from government and, for the first time in any of the Rampersad-produced accounts, a $250,000 contribution from British Gas.

Atlantic LNG did not make the roster of sponsors and the National Gas Company and BHP Billiton, which had fallen off the previous 2006 TTFF statement, made a return.

The contribution of State telecom giant TSTT tripled from $4 million in 2006 to $12.6 million in 2011.

Adidas, previously listed in 2006 with a $1.8 million contribution, went up to a wholesome $5.8 million in the 2011 filing.


There were other curious statements contained in the financials. Rampersad’s accounts, in talking about the FIFA CHF 6 million or TT$27.7 million grant, referred to the FIFA money being “Due to TTFF” although FIFA itself had written Warner as “president “of TTFF in November 2006 asking for banking instructions.

The November 15 letter, written by FIFA’s director of Finance, Markus Kattner, noted: “We kindly ask for your confirmation that we can transfer the balance to the official account of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation immediately. Please note that we will transfer the balance in USD as per the daily rate of the day of the transaction.”

Bank statements obtained through a court-ordered levy on the premises of the now insolvent national football association does not reflect substantial sponsorship funds, including the FIFA World Cup-Germany prize money.

Camps and Groden say their knowledge extends only to the three bank accounts disclosed to the court.

Neither had much to say to the Sunday Express. Camps declined comment, saying his memory was not as good as it used to be and Groden said only: “I prefer not to speak without a lawyer.”

The two football officials, in affidavits given to the court, have maintained that they knew nothing about the affairs of LOC Germany (although they were both listed as directors), and had no knowledge of anything outside of the information already provided to the court.

TTFF’s top officials told the court that Warner not only had exclusive control of LOC Germany but had possession of all of the football association’s financial records and company files.

Both men told the court it should look to Warner for an account of company records and other financial information since he was the man in charge and ultimately responsible for the affairs of the football association and its agent company, LOC Germany.

They have refused to go after Warner on the ground that he is a substantial creditor of the TTFF, but have provided no explanation about the circumstances leading to this creditor status.

Bank records for three of the association’s accounts show substantial payments in the tens of millions to Warner, his private companies, other family-owned businesses and LOC Germany.

Warner has denied that he had a “professional client/accountant relationship” with Rampersad in a statement filed in the CMC hearing, but conceded that Rampersad was the accountant of several football bodies with which he had been associated, including TTFF, CFU and CONCACAF.

He omitted to say that the accounting briefs were either given directly or recommended by him. He also failed to disclose that Rampersad made a string of cameo appearances as a corporate officer in several of his private corporations.

The Warner affidavit said he was prepared to provide TTFF with the “information or documentation” relevant to helping the players determine the quantum of income earned during the 2006 World Cup effort so that they could determine what they are truthfully owed, but later told the court via his attorney that he had already provided all of the information in his possession and had nothing more to add.

Sources with knowledge of the pay dispute say the players and the TTFF are unlikely to return to court and are close to reaching a settlement on the claim.

It’s one less tsunami for Jack Warner to worry about but it has washed up a lot of driftwood on his home shore.

Tomorrow: Part II—the money trail.



Forumites here may like to note the role they played in this by their initial uncovering, back in 2007, of sponsorship deals. You guys scratched the surface and started a chain of events that could end who knows where.  :beermug:
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 08:10:16 AM by Football supporter »

Offline AB.Trini

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5624
  • yuh cyar take meh ancestry from meh
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1927 on: April 14, 2013, 08:56:38 AM »
From the mouth of the esteem one comes the cries of 'woe is me' I am the most picked upon ; no gratitude; I am the victim in all this.

It baffles me as to how one with all these swirling allegations could still maintain public office in such a high portfolio when other ministers have been discharged for far less?

It makes one wonder as to if $$$ was not passed in financing the  political campaign which led to this present government reveling in victory therefore rending some as untouchables.

In many ways it is a tragic tale  full of sound and fury which need not have to come to this. A tragic figure with flaws exposed has cast a black cloud in what was supposed to be our finest  defining moment in our football history. Who is suffering throughout the unraveling of all these allegations?

Is it any wonder that some of our most talented and those who could chose to represent TnT are at arms length? how has these events affected the psyche and morale of our national teams? To ask players to make personal sacrifices  and to risk their personal careers and livelihood and then for some to reap the  financial benefits is a bitter pill to swallow.

To play on the emotional and financial blood of fans is a travesty. So many willing fans gave up so much to support their country to support players only  now to find out that on their backs a lion was growing with pride.

In all of this a figure could have been glorified and held in high regard  but now allegations are swirling that may confirm once more  the frailty of   man.  Sad sad indeed for our nation.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 09:00:15 AM by AB.Trini »

Offline King Deese

  • BlackKnights15
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1086
    • View Profile
    • photobucket.com
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1928 on: April 14, 2013, 09:06:15 AM »
Enron ver. B.
I am the punishment of God...If you had not comitted great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.

Offline Peong

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 7410
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1929 on: April 14, 2013, 11:02:36 AM »
The screws tighten.....

I was about to say the same thing.  Put Jack Warner on d rack and just tighten......

Offline socalion

  • Sr. Warrior
  • ****
  • Posts: 486
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1930 on: April 14, 2013, 11:44:48 AM »
From the mouth of the esteem one comes the cries of 'woe is me' I am the most picked upon ; no gratitude; I am the victim in all this.

It baffles me as to how one with all these swirling allegations could still maintain public office in such a high portfolio when other ministers have been discharged for far less?

It makes one wonder as to if $$$ was not passed in financing the  political campaign which led to this present government reveling in victory therefore rending some as untouchables.

In many ways it is a tragic tale  full of sound and fury which need not have to come to this. A tragic figure with flaws exposed has cast a black cloud in what was supposed to be our finest  defining moment in our football history. Who is suffering throughout the unraveling of all these allegations?

Is it any wonder that some of our most talented and those who could chose to represent TnT are at arms length? how has these events affected the psyche and morale of our national teams? To ask players to make personal sacrifices  and to risk their personal careers and livelihood and then for some to reap the  financial benefits is a bitter pill to swallow.

To play on the emotional and financial blood of fans is a travesty. So many willing fans gave up so much to support their country to support players only  now to find out that on their backs a lion was growing with pride.

In all of this a figure could have been glorified and held in high regard  but now allegations are swirling that may confirm once more  the frailty of   man.  Sad sad indeed for our nation.

A.B trini !!! well you could  not have said it any better .....

truetrini

  • Guest
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1931 on: April 14, 2013, 11:50:51 AM »
socalion, see where your academy money went?

Offline socalion

  • Sr. Warrior
  • ****
  • Posts: 486
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1932 on: April 14, 2013, 12:10:41 PM »
Ah cyar find it yet,  as a result ah still searching for it:)

Offline weary1969

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 27225
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1933 on: April 14, 2013, 01:16:22 PM »
Ah find this tid bit of info interesting.......I could understand why the players would want to settle but if part of the deal involves no further action e.g. they can't refer anything to the fraud squad then I would be a bit disappointed.....

Sources with knowledge of the pay dispute say the players and the TTFF are unlikely to return to court and are close to reaching a settlement on the claim.

It’s one less tsunami for Jack Warner to worry about but it has washed up a lot of driftwood on his home shore.


Now would of been a good time to go behind him.

Listen the lucky 13 that still in d lawsuit your alphabet is A APPLE B BAT C 4 yuhself. Take d money and doh feel all yuh have responsibility to the nation. D nation voted 4 Jack and this posse when all yuh got 5000TT. So sort out all yuh business doh study we because we eh study all yuh when we gave d country 2 this pathetic posse.
From the mouth of the esteem one comes the cries of 'woe is me' I am the most picked upon ; no gratitude; I am the victim in all this.

It baffles me as to how one with all these swirling allegations could still maintain public office in such a high portfolio when other ministers have been discharged for far less?

It makes one wonder as to if $$$ was not passed in financing the  political campaign which led to this present government reveling in victory therefore rending some as untouchables.

In many ways it is a tragic tale  full of sound and fury which need not have to come to this. A tragic figure with flaws exposed has cast a black cloud in what was supposed to be our finest  defining moment in our football history. Who is suffering throughout the unraveling of all these allegations?

Is it any wonder that some of our most talented and those who could chose to represent TnT are at arms length? how has these events affected the psyche and morale of our national teams? To ask players to make personal sacrifices  and to risk their personal careers and livelihood and then for some to reap the  financial benefits is a bitter pill to swallow.

To play on the emotional and financial blood of fans is a travesty. So many willing fans gave up so much to support their country to support players only  now to find out that on their backs a lion was growing with pride.

In all of this a figure could have been glorified and held in high regard  but now allegations are swirling that may confirm once more  the frailty of   man.  Sad sad indeed for our nation.

A.B trini !!! well you could  not have said it any better .....

Mary King/Colin Partap/Hubert Volney eh finance d party to insure d govt got in 2 power. Thus he still in power.
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline weary1969

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 27225
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1934 on: April 14, 2013, 01:17:46 PM »
How Warner built his empire: a tangled web of TTFF cash transfers, gifts and undeclared sponsorships
By Camini Marajh Head Investigative Desk (T&T Express).


$100m & MORE MISSING

It was a tale of treachery that caused a football tsunami the likes of which a vexed Austin Jack Warner had threatened to unleash on the House of FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) after his Zurich face-off with former close ally and FIFA president, Sepp Blatter.

Instead, it swept him away into a sea of much deeper corruption allegations and global law enforcement scrutiny.

Decades-old payments he had made from a CFU (Caribbean Football Union) bank account to an offshore company of another longstanding FIFA friend and confidant turned whistle-blower, Chuck Blazer, had caught the attention of United States authorities probing corruption in international football.

On March 27, Reuters reported that Warner’s son and business partner, Daryan, had turned “cooperating witness” to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US tax authorities, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in connection with a US$500,000 payout made over 20 years.

 Minister Warner has refused to address directly whether he is a person of interest or comment on his son’s role as a “cooperating witness” in an FBI football corruption investigation.

Meanwhile, in Panama City, another Pandora’s Box revealing more of Warner’s dark football secrets is set to open at CONCACAF’s Congress later this week. This one, too, is said to contain all the makings of a football tsunami of corruption claims and is expected to attract even more law enforcement interest.

The IRS is already digging deep into this particular box of muddled finances which leads right back to the Warner-Blazer duet, according to persons familiar with the situation.

At home, Sunday Express investigations into Warner’s activities reveal that the once powerful football figure--who had a box seat on the world and access to heads of state, private jets and corporate CEOs—used his network of football and political connections to build a family business empire and personal fortune of about $200 million which from all accounts is a conservative estimate.

Some of this money came from cash transfers from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) to bank accounts held in the names of private Warner companies; so-called cash “gifts” in the tens of millions of dollars; rich World Cup TV broadcast deals run through a Cayman-registered company; World Cup tickets racket and vast flows of income from several sources, including the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence at Macoya, property rentals and miscellaneous fees from football bodies.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Chaguanas West, who emerged as the top-ranked cabinet minister in two surveys and served at times as this country’s acting prime minister, has featured in repeated allegations of corruption over the years and up until the events of May 2011 remained an untouchable, protected in the main by his scandal-scarred football boss, Blatter, even from complaints emanating from within the FIFA oligarchy, according to FIFA board minutes seen by this reporter.

The one-time star Government Minister, badly damaged by the Mohamed bin Hammam cash-for-vote affair which was played out on his front lawn at a Port of Spain hotel, has vehemently denied all allegations of wrongdoing but has inexplicably refused to have his day in court—either at the FIFA Ethics Committee hearing or the International Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS)—opting instead to quit the bright lights of world football and to stay on the offensive, threatening a tsunami on Blatter’s House of FIFA and indulging in personal attacks against his detractors.

Even now, in the face of serious questions about financial irregularities in all of the football bodies he presided over—CONCACAF, CFU, TTFF and LOC (Local Organising Committee) Germany 2006 Ltd—Warner, the Minister of National Security in the People's Partnership Government, has refused to address specific questions put to him by this newspaper and has complained instead of being the “most vilified” public official in the land.

Sunday Express investigations show that the former special adviser to TTFF transferred out tens of millions of dollars from the national football association’s bank accounts to a local organising company, LOC Germany 2006 Ltd, which was set up by his personal accountant, Kenny Rampersad.

Warner was both a director and chairman of LOC Germany, the corporate vehicle set up to collect money for transfer to TTFF’s road to Germany 2006 World Cup campaign. He was also the man calling the shots, according to TTFF’s top officials, Oliver Camps and Richard Groden.

The two Warner front men were also directors in the February 2004-incorporated entity along with Warner’s other son, Daryll, and his secretary of long standing, Patricia Modeste.

On February 21, 2004, 15 days after LOC Germany opened shop, TTFF special adviser Warner, dispatched a single page of correspondence to LOC Germany. In it, he gave himself via the newly-registered company the power and authority to negotiate all sponsorships, endorsements, match arrangements and other money-spinning opportunities associated with the Soca Warriors qualification for the 2006 World Cup.

Bank statements, payment vouchers and other financial records obtained by the Sunday Express show a reversal of roles between the national football association and its duly-appointed “negotiating agent”, LOC Germany, with the agent company stripping TTFF’s accounts of surplus cash instead of paying out World Cup sponsorship money it had collected to designated accounts.

Documents also reveal that, at times, LOC Germany withdrew funds before it even hit the account.

Financial records show at least TT$100 million of public and private sector funds have gone missing. Tens of millions of dollars in World Cup funds were being tapped from TTFF’s bank accounts by the Warner-run LOC Germany entity and by private corporations owned by him, specifically Jamad Ltd, JAW Ltd and Sportel Ltd.

Four sets of financial statements produced in just as many years by Warner’s accountant-in-chief Rampersad show significant omissions from the balance sheet. Public grants and other sponsorship money that should have gone into TTFF’s bank accounts, according to official government records, have simply disappeared.

By the state’s own calculations, a minimum of $205.6 million in public and private sector funds were paid to the national football association in support of the 2006 World Cup campaign.

The various Rampersad financial statements, however, paint a far more modest picture. They reflect many discrepancies, conflicting numbers and more than $100 million missing in World Cup income.

Michael Townley, the British lawyer pursuing the Soca Warriors’ claim that Warner and the national football association drastically understated the Warriors

2006 World Cup income, described the financial information provided by TTFF and its accountant as “works of fiction”.

In pleadings made to a case management conference (CMC) before Justice Devindra Rampersad, Townley told of a tangled tale of opaque and misleading financial records, of the deliberate and continued attempt to conceal tens of millions of dollars to deny the players what is contractually owed to them and of Warner’s effective control of LOC Germany.

Townley told the court about the hardship of extracting credible information from the TTFF and its “rogue" agent Jack Warner—even in the face of legal orders. Townley spoke of the rigged game the football association has played with the court and its disregard for the process of law.

Sponsorship information provided to Townley by the previous administration reveal that $205.6 million in State and private sector contributions were made to the TTFF in support of the Soca Warriors historic 2006 World Cup qualification.

The schedule of payments show that the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs provided just over $60.3 million, government state agencies $21.8 million and private sector corporations, including Atlantic LNG, Adidas, BHP Billiton and British Gas, $88.1 million.

The government disclosure also cited a CHF 7 million (Swiss francs) or TT$35.2 million figure in relation to the qualification grant from FIFA.

But the first Rampersad account, dated October 5, 2006 and addressed to Warner in his capacity as president of CONCACAF (the body which represents football federations from North and Central America and the Caribbean), made no mention of the CHF 7 million FIFA grant or Atlantic LNG’s $3 million contribution.

The October statement gives a total sponsorship income of a mere $13 million.

Warner’s main man of business produced another set of accounts in November 2007 for an arbitration dispute headed to a London courtroom after the players rejected the 2006 financials and a settlement offer of just over $5,000 per player. Rampersad’s financials were addressed to Om Lalla, a key Warner attorney.

The FIFA grant appears in the 2007 accounts but the figure is trimmed by $1 million or TT$5 million. It also records for the first time a $600,000 grant from government but cuts the sponsorship income to $6.5m million. No explanation is given for these material adjustments.

In 2010, a court order forced the production of a financial statement for LOC Germany but this too contains significant omissions by Rampersad, who declares a total grant and sponsorship income of $54.5 million. More accounting games are played with the production of yet another set of court-ordered financial statements for TTFF in June 2011.

This one too has all the hallmarks of Rampersad, whose stock response to questions relating to the missing millions, built-in conflicts of interest, inflated expenses and understated income was: “I am not at liberty to discuss the affairs of my clients, past or present.”

He asked the Sunday Express to submit its questions in writing but up to press time there was no response.

The roster of sponsors named in the 2011 accounts show a $1.6 million grant from government and, for the first time in any of the Rampersad-produced accounts, a $250,000 contribution from British Gas.

Atlantic LNG did not make the roster of sponsors and the National Gas Company and BHP Billiton, which had fallen off the previous 2006 TTFF statement, made a return.

The contribution of State telecom giant TSTT tripled from $4 million in 2006 to $12.6 million in 2011.

Adidas, previously listed in 2006 with a $1.8 million contribution, went up to a wholesome $5.8 million in the 2011 filing.


There were other curious statements contained in the financials. Rampersad’s accounts, in talking about the FIFA CHF 6 million or TT$27.7 million grant, referred to the FIFA money being “Due to TTFF” although FIFA itself had written Warner as “president “of TTFF in November 2006 asking for banking instructions.

The November 15 letter, written by FIFA’s director of Finance, Markus Kattner, noted: “We kindly ask for your confirmation that we can transfer the balance to the official account of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation immediately. Please note that we will transfer the balance in USD as per the daily rate of the day of the transaction.”

Bank statements obtained through a court-ordered levy on the premises of the now insolvent national football association does not reflect substantial sponsorship funds, including the FIFA World Cup-Germany prize money.

Camps and Groden say their knowledge extends only to the three bank accounts disclosed to the court.

Neither had much to say to the Sunday Express. Camps declined comment, saying his memory was not as good as it used to be and Groden said only: “I prefer not to speak without a lawyer.”

The two football officials, in affidavits given to the court, have maintained that they knew nothing about the affairs of LOC Germany (although they were both listed as directors), and had no knowledge of anything outside of the information already provided to the court.

TTFF’s top officials told the court that Warner not only had exclusive control of LOC Germany but had possession of all of the football association’s financial records and company files.

Both men told the court it should look to Warner for an account of company records and other financial information since he was the man in charge and ultimately responsible for the affairs of the football association and its agent company, LOC Germany.

They have refused to go after Warner on the ground that he is a substantial creditor of the TTFF, but have provided no explanation about the circumstances leading to this creditor status.

Bank records for three of the association’s accounts show substantial payments in the tens of millions to Warner, his private companies, other family-owned businesses and LOC Germany.

Warner has denied that he had a “professional client/accountant relationship” with Rampersad in a statement filed in the CMC hearing, but conceded that Rampersad was the accountant of several football bodies with which he had been associated, including TTFF, CFU and CONCACAF.

He omitted to say that the accounting briefs were either given directly or recommended by him. He also failed to disclose that Rampersad made a string of cameo appearances as a corporate officer in several of his private corporations.

The Warner affidavit said he was prepared to provide TTFF with the “information or documentation” relevant to helping the players determine the quantum of income earned during the 2006 World Cup effort so that they could determine what they are truthfully owed, but later told the court via his attorney that he had already provided all of the information in his possession and had nothing more to add.

Sources with knowledge of the pay dispute say the players and the TTFF are unlikely to return to court and are close to reaching a settlement on the claim.

It’s one less tsunami for Jack Warner to worry about but it has washed up a lot of driftwood on his home shore.

Tomorrow: Part II—the money trail.



Forumites here may like to note the role they played in this by their initial uncovering, back in 2007, of sponsorship deals. You guys scratched the surface and started a chain of events that could end who knows where.  :beermug:

EMAN I  :applause: :salute: u
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline Bakes

  • Promethean...
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 21980
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1935 on: April 14, 2013, 01:24:56 PM »
Some ah allyuh could make allyuh points without quoting the preceding posts in their entirety.

Offline Mango Chow!

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5720
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1936 on: April 14, 2013, 01:41:03 PM »
Some ah allyuh could make allyuh points without quoting the preceding posts in their entirety.

  People could make dey points however they please.  Relax yuh self and keep it moving.


Not because a man ears long and he teet' long dat it make him a Jackass!

Offline lefty

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5888
  • would u like to buy an 'O'.........
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1937 on: April 14, 2013, 02:48:02 PM »
Some ah allyuh could make allyuh points without quoting the preceding posts in their entirety.

  People could make dey points however they please.  Relax yuh self and keep it moving.

nah but seriously chow it does really make reading through kinda annoying they can delete most of the article and add "stops" when dey quote it like below....it helps readability


How Warner built his empire: a tangled web of TTFF cash transfers, gifts and undeclared sponsorships
By Camini Marajh Head Investigative Desk (T&T Express).


$100m & MORE MISSING

It was a tale of treachery ................


I pity the fool....

Offline Mango Chow!

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5720
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1938 on: April 14, 2013, 04:34:54 PM »
Some ah allyuh could make allyuh points without quoting the preceding posts in their entirety.

  People could make dey points however they please.  Relax yuh self and keep it moving.

nah but seriously chow it does really make reading through kinda annoying they can delete most of the article and add "stops" when dey quote it like below....it helps readability


How Warner built his empire: a tangled web of TTFF cash transfers, gifts and undeclared sponsorships
By Camini Marajh Head Investigative Desk (T&T Express).


$100m & MORE MISSING

It was a tale of treachery ................



   I hyear yuh...but it have people starvin' dey ass orff in Africa doh know where dey next meal coming from or if it go even come before dey dead....a little "annoyance" eh go kill we.   :beermug:


Not because a man ears long and he teet' long dat it make him a Jackass!

Offline g

  • mr greggle71
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2459
  • semi match fit
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1939 on: April 14, 2013, 05:59:46 PM »
Finally these stories getting the front page headlines as it should be.

The info may be shocking to john public but the exact contents have been published here almost 6 years ago.

This is arguably more grotesque than Piarco and UdecoTT combined. A national scandal, Jack Warner is an absolute disgrace to the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

I wonder how he sleeps at night, the fact that he has deprived young men and women of the resources to maximize their potential through football by his own greed. I sometimes try to rationalize his actions, his entry into national public life, was it an attempt to balance his actions previously, pious declarations of $1 salary and positioning himself as some kind of hero.

Disgusting
Soca Warriors, the pride of a nation

Offline dreamer

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 4582
  • These fellas are real Warriors.
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1940 on: April 14, 2013, 06:18:37 PM »
... dreamer going to real enjoy breakfast dis morning ;D ... and why not? Quite an article!

 :beermug: More to come.
Supportin' de Warriors right tru.

Offline weary1969

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 27225
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1941 on: April 14, 2013, 07:43:33 PM »
Finally these stories getting the front page headlines as it should be.

The info may be shocking to john public but the exact contents have been published here almost 6 years ago.

This is arguably more grotesque than Piarco and UdecoTT combined. A national scandal, Jack Warner is an absolute disgrace to the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

I wonder how he sleeps at night, the fact that he has deprived young men and women of the resources to maximize their potential through football by his own greed. I sometimes try to rationalize his actions, his entry into national public life, was it an attempt to balance his actions previously, pious declarations of $1 salary and positioning himself as some kind of hero.

Disgusting

That is what is so saddddd d journalist is so clueless we knew this long long time but Camini late late and beating her chest. Not 2mention all yuh put him in power.
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline coache

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 844
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1942 on: April 14, 2013, 08:02:11 PM »
Ok..so when is de case?
All dis Grand Charging and de man still outside...lock up de man..

Offline King Deese

  • BlackKnights15
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1086
    • View Profile
    • photobucket.com
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1943 on: April 14, 2013, 08:07:14 PM »
I am sure you are right Weary. Better late than never.

I am the punishment of God...If you had not comitted great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.

Offline Jefferz

  • "hopelessly faithful"
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5151
  • Warrior Nation Member #44
    • View Profile
    • facebook.com
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1944 on: April 14, 2013, 08:08:08 PM »
can't wait to visit him in jail.
since ah born or at least circa Copa Caribe

Offline weary1969

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 27225
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1945 on: April 14, 2013, 08:08:46 PM »
I am sure you are right Weary. Better late than never.


Ok..so when is de case?
All dis Grand Charging and de man still outside...lock up de man..

Williams eh even question d man u expect him 2 lock him up. PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline weary1969

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 27225
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1946 on: April 14, 2013, 08:12:09 PM »
I am sure you are right Weary. Better late than never.



EH EH not in this case. This makin we look like a green fig republic.
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline King Deese

  • BlackKnights15
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1086
    • View Profile
    • photobucket.com
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1947 on: April 14, 2013, 08:36:24 PM »
So you are concerned about the way we look? Is that right.
I am the punishment of God...If you had not comitted great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.

Offline weary1969

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 27225
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1948 on: April 14, 2013, 09:01:36 PM »
So you are concerned about the way we look? Is that right.

Among other things. I just fed up of d entire situation.
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline weary1969

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 27225
    • View Profile
Re: $100m & MORE MISSING (Sunday Express)
« Reply #1949 on: April 14, 2013, 11:00:11 PM »
Money Trail Exposed.
By Camini Marajh - Head Investigative Desk
Part II of a Special Investigation
T&T Express.


If international auditing firm KPMG had any concerns about the vast flows of sponsorship money going out of the bank accounts of one of its client, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF), to an agent company created and controlled by the client’s special adviser Jack Warner, it is not at all apparent in the unqualified statement covering three years of audited accounts the firm signed off on in 2008.

Evidence unearthed by this newspaper revealed that the national football federation, its agent company—LOC Germany 2006—and special adviser Warner, the man who set up the rogue company, were allowed to operate in a zone of impunity by both its conflicted accountant, Kenny Rampersad, and its auditor, KPMG.

LOC Germany, Warner himself and private companies in which National Security Minister Warner had an interest were allowed without challenge, sanction or a note to any of the accounts, to funnel tens of millions of dollars out of TTFF’s bank accounts.

In the three-year period under review—2005 to 2007—LOC Germany diverted over $32 million in grants and sponsorship money paid into two TTFF accounts held with Republic Bank to itself. JAW Ltd, a private Warner company, redirected more than $13 million in public and private sector money held at the Republic Bank West Mall and Long Circular branches to itself.

Financial records, TTFF bank statements and other documents in the possession of this newspaper show about $3 million in grant money paid to the national football federation in support of the 2006 World Cup campaign being moved to Jamad Ltd, another private Warner entity. The documents show some $9 million was re-routed from the two Republic Bank accounts to Warner himself.

Sponsorship funds were also redirected to other Warner associated companies, including the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence, Catch of D Day, Sportel Ltd and CONCACAF (the body which represents football federations from North and Central America and the Caribbean) and of which Warner was president.

Another $322,000, representing six transactions over several months in 2007, was moved from another TTFF account held with First Citizens Bank at the corner of Park and Henry Streets to Jamad Ltd.

The documents show several instances where millions of dollars were deposited into TTFF’s bank accounts and just as quickly transferred to LOC Germany or Warner-related accounts.

On May 2, 2006, $14.4 million was debited from the Republic West Mall account in favour of LOC Germany. The deposit for the same amount was made 16 days later by the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs.
There was another similar money-out money-in transaction on May 8. LOC Germany cleared out a little over $2.6 million the same day the exact sum was paid in by a corporate sponsor.

Voucher-payable documents show a $6.7 million payment being made to Warner in July 2007. The football association’s top officials Oliver Camps and Richard Groden were signatories to the paperwork. The government had paid in just over $10.1 million via the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs the week before. There were also occasions when the bank transfers placed the TTFF accounts in overdraft.

Rampersad has not responded to a request for comment on several important aspects of the TTFF financials drawn up by him including whether Warner had an input in the making of the accounts but all the evidence place him in a very conflicted position. In the first of four sets of accounts produced by him and addressed to Warner as president of CONCACAF, Rampersad noted: “In accordance with your request we have completed the accompanying statement of income and expenditure relative to TT’s participation” in the 2006 World Cup.

In the 2006 accounts, Rampersad, who was also the auditor of CONCACAF, declared a total sponsorship income of $13 million. As reported in Part I of this series, official state records place the total sponsorship and grant figure at a minimum of $205.6 million. Sources report that an unknown amount of funds paid into TTFF’s coffers in support of the 2006 World Cup effort were redirected elsewhere.

The federation’s auditor, KPMG, responding to a list of questions from the Express, made clear that LOC Germany was created to “see about all aspects of our football team’s preparation and participation in the 2006 World Cup” and as far as they were concerned it was a “separate legal entity” and did not form part of its audit remit.

Managing Partner of KPMG Robert Alleyne explained it this way: “You would appreciate that LOC and TTFF being separate legal entities and our audit engagement related to TTFF alone, consequently, we had no basis to request or to examine the accounting records of LOC.”

Asked whether KPMG investigated the circumstances in which TTFF ended up indebted to its special adviser Warner, KPMG said: “We stand by our audit report which did not express any reservations about the debt.”

Questioned about a $716,339 debt to LOC Germany in 2006 Alleyne said: “There is no requirement to disclose the purpose of debt.”

Alleyne made clear that the questions submitted by this reporter “crossed the line”  and that the international auditing firm had “an overriding contractual obligation” to its client “to keep information obtained by us in our capacity as their auditor, confidential.”

He said further that KPMG’s policies “prevent us from commenting on the nature of or outcome of the audit.”

—Continues on Wednesday with The Great Deception.

« Last Edit: April 15, 2013, 05:12:28 AM by Flex »
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

 

1]; } ?>