They have done a huge full page Ad in the T&T Guardian on Sunday and the T&T Newsday on Wednesday, ad as follows.
The Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar M.P.
Office of The Prime Minister
13-15 St Clair Avenue
Port of Spain,
Trinidad
14th March 2012
Dear Prime Minister
As you are aware, we have written to you in the past to make you aware of certain concerns we have regarding accountability and transparency in Trinidad and Tobago football.
Although we appreciate that you are a very busy person, still we were disappointed that we received no response from any of your staff.
We are writing to you concerning matters revealed during the case currently before Judge Rampersad in the Trinidad and Tobago High Court, namely:
Atiba Charles, Cyd Gray, Cornell Glen, Shaka Hislop, Avery John, Stern John, Kenwyne Jones, Kelvin Jack, Collin Samuel, Brent Sancho, Aurtis Whitley, Evans Wise, Anthony Wolfe (Claimants) hereafter referred to as the players and Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (also known as Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation) hereafter referred to as TTFF and Oliver Camps (trading as Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation) (Defendants)
The reason that we are bringing these matters to your attention is that after nearly 6 years, these players have still not been paid the money entitled to them as it has so far proved impossible for the courts to accurately establish the amount of money owed to the players by TTFF and the whereabouts of these funds. Madame Prime Minister, as a Senior Counsel, you will be aware of the adage,” justice delayed is justice denied”. With your obvious respect for the legal system, we are hopeful that you will find the enclosed information of concern, as it certainly is to the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.
Despite substantial evidence gathered by the players relating to the amount of funds collected by TTFF, Oliver Camps and the Local Organising Committee 2006 Germany Ltd (an agency created by TTFF and Mr Warner to obtain sponsorship funds, grants and awards to fund the 2006 World Cup campaign, which according to the evidence filed was under the sole charge of Austin Jack Warner), a sum inexcess of TT$150 million is still unaccounted for. This includes something in the region of $80 million of taxpayers’ dollars awarded by the Government.
Justice Rampersad commented in the Trinidad and Tobago High Court, that the accounts submitted by TTFF and Austin Jack Warner were “unaccountable”. He expressed very grave concerns over financial sums confirmed to be received by TTFF and Mr Warner, yet do not appear in any accounts, despite a sworn affidavit from Mr Camps that the accounts submitted were an accurate reflection of TTFF’s income and expenditure for the period concerned.
Evidence sworn in an affidavit by Mr Oliver Camps, then President of TTFF, identifies Mr Warner as having total sole knowledge of the amount and whereabouts of the funds. Mr Camps stated that despite several requests to Mr Warner to deliver both the information and the funds, his requests were ignored.
Despite TTFF being ordered by the judge to write to Mr Warner requesting full details of income and expenditure and the whereabouts of the funds in question, Mr Warner simply replied that he had produced all of the requested information previously, which appears to contradict his earlier sworn affidavit which stated that TTFF only need request the information and it would be provided. Why is Jack Warner refusing to produce accurate accounts, or in fact ANY accounts?
TTFF have now been ordered to file a law suit against Mr Warner in respect of his obvious breach of duty in order to obtain all documents pertaining to Local Organising Committee 2006 Germany Ltd and any other money raised as a result of the ‘Road to Germany’ champaign, and the return of the outstanding funds. Yet despite a member of your cabinet being named in a lawsuit relating to some $80 million of taxpayers money, you have yet to take any action to support the Trinidad & Tobago High Courts’ ruling. Yet you have decided to throw your support behind the West Indies players regarding their dispute with the WICB. Madame PM, we are your fellow countrymen, chaconia gold medal holders, where is your support for us? We ask you to not abandon us because we have felt alone for 6years.
Madame Prime Minister, there are ample reasons why this case should be of interest to your government in ensuring that the public’s funds are recovered. This request is NOT a request that you interfere with the adminstration of justice or the work of the Judge that is in charge of this matter. The fact is that the essential judicial task has been completed long ago. It was in May 2008 that the competing claims of the parties were settled by arbitration in London, which was confirmed by the High Court of Trinidad and Tabago in June 2010 when it was ordered that the Arbitration Award be registered as a judment of the Triniadad and Tabago High Court.
The ‘justice’ of the case has been settled long ago; ever since June 2010 what the players and the Court have faced is determined evasion over the amount and the whereabouts of the funds that are the subject of the dispute. There is no other question now outstanding, and your Government must have an equal interest in discovering how its money was spent.
Mr Anthony Harford of All Sport Promotions, an organisation appointed by Minister of Sport, Anil Roberts to oversee financial and promotional matters at TTFF, has stated that after conversations with KPMG, who audited TTFF’s accounts, the auditors believe there are “parallel” bank accounts in existence.
Mr Camps also stated in his affidavit that the TTFF accounts were accurate, yet he personally collected cheques made payable to TTFF on 1st May 2006 from the then Minister of Sport, Roger Boynes for the sum of $14,487,070.50 and on 5th May, Camps collected a cheque for $3 million from Atlantic LNG payable to LOC2006, neither of which appear to have been deposited in the ‘official’ bank account of the TTFF.
When Mr Camps, as President of TTFF he signed the 2006 accounts as being correct, why did he not inform KPMG that over $14 million was not showing as income? Yet that deposit was made into TTFF’s Republic Bank, West Mall account on 18th May. Even so, Madame Prime Minister, the KPMG audited accounts for 2006, showed TOTAL income of only $6,724,022. So why did TTFF not declare the $14 million? Why also did he not question the whereabouts of the $3 million from Atlantic LNG missing from the LOC accounts submitted by Mr Warner?
If, as it appears, there was a “parallel” TTFF account, what was the purpose of this and who were the signatories? Is the account still in existence? Mr Camps and Mr Warner are no longer associated with TTFF so any TTFF accounts should be under the control of TTFF, yet they claim they have no knowledge.
Certainly, Mr Warner seems to be the person with knowledge of these missing funds, yet when asked to submit an affidavit to the court, carefully failed to address this subject. Particularly as Mr Warner continued to operate the LOC2006 Germany Ltd bank account as late as September 2009. In the two years after submitting accounts to the court, Mr Warner, through the LOC2006 Germany Ltd account paid over $2,487,000 into one of TTFF’s accounts.
Madame Prime Minister, why would Mr Warner transfer nearly $2.5 million from an account which was only to be used to collect funds from the 2006 World Cup campaign and to cover expenses related to that competition, 3 years after it had ended? Why, also, Madame Prime Minister, did TTFF, from September 2007 to February 2009, pay over $2,700,000 to LOC2006 Germany Ltd?
And why was more than $17 million transferred from TTFF to bank accounts controlled or connected to, Mr Warner between July 2007 and September 2009? We have all the supporting documentry evidence and wuld be pleased to hand it over to the appropriate regulatory, investorgatory and law enforcement agencies.
Another anomaly pointing to “parallel” accounts and the possibility of co mingling of funds was the out of court payments made to players who settled with the defendants. One player was paid with a Caribbean Football Union cheque for the sum of US$ 30,004.34. Why would the Caribbean Football Union make a payment on behalf of TTFF? Meanwhile, payment to a second player was made from TTFF’s account.
Of equal concern are payments made by TTFF to the players of the so-called “Charity withheld monies”. These payments were made with CONCACAF cheques. Again, why would CONCACAF pay money to players awarded from a TTFF court case?
TTFF, CFU and CONCACAF all hold accounts at the same Republic Branch on Tragarete Road that appear to be under the control of Mr Warner.
Madame Prime Minister, we are not forensic accountants, but even to the untrained eye it is plain something is gravely wrong with the financial accounting of TTFF and LOC 2006 Germany Ltd.
Madam Prime Minister, these matters should be of urgent concern to you and your Government, who have pledged to rid the country of corruption and endorsed transparency and accountability. Another of your election aims was to stop the practice of co mingling of funds through multiple bank accounts.
We have already taken the unfortunate, but necessary step of seizing the assets of TTFF, an incident that should have elicited grave concerns within your government. We have no wish to see our country banned from International competition, yet we will, if necessary, pursue our legal claim and force TTFF to be liquidated. In the interests of all citizens of our nation, but more particularly, the men and women who represent this country on the world’s football fields and carry our flag proudly to all corners of the globe, we implore you to take an immediate interest in this situation.
There is a large amount of taxpayers’ money unaccounted for, and according to the testimony of his colleague for over 20 years, Oliver Camps, your cabinet minister, Minister of Works; Austin Jack Warner is the only person who can testify to its whereabouts. And if these taxpayers’ funds, totalling over $80 million were deposited into alternative accounts, we must ask Mr Warner why and demand an investigation into the activities of TTFF, Mr Camps and Mr Warner.
This situation is completely untenable and must be resolved immediately. A simple check by Minister of Sport, Anil Roberts, concerning the bank account in which these cheques were cashed would reveal so much. If it was a TTFF account, why do these items not appear in their accounts, audited by KPMG and signed off by Oliver Camps? If they were deposited in the LOC2006 account controlled by Mr Warner, why do they not appear in the accounts that he prepared and submitted as evidence to the Court of Arbitration in London? Mr Roberts is stating that he cannot become involved in an ongoing legal matter.
This is absolutely not the case. Justice Rampersad has already ruled in favour of the players. The only matter in front of the court now is how much are the players owed. We have been fighting for our bonuses contractually due to us for 6years. Madame Prime Minister, our families and football fans have suffered through this ordeal. Are you going to help to resolve this?
Or will you continue to remain silent?
It is the duty of Government to recognise court rulings and assist in any way if it is in the interests of citizens. With over $80 million of taxpayers money unaccounted for, Madame Prime Minister, we cannot understand why you are not acting in the interests of your electorate. Madame Prime Minister, the interests of the taxpayers are not being served by your government if you continue to ignore this issue.
All of our queries stem directly from evidence provided by TTFF, Oliver Camps, Jack Warner and the Ministry of Sport. This evidence, literally, does not add up and it appears the one person who can resolve these issues is your Works Minister, Jack Warner M.P.
As a Senior Council, it must be your wish to see justice served.
As Prime Minister, it must be your wish to see your cabinet minister absolved of any wrongdoing.
As a taxpayer, it must be your wish to see government funds used for the purposes that they were given.
As a proud Trinibagonian, it must be your wish to promote Trinidad and Tobago as a country no longer willing to accept corruption.
As loyal citizens, it is our duty to report to you, our Prime Minister, any concerns that we may have over the misappropriation of taxpayers’ funds, which impacts negatively on the lives of all citizens of Trinidad & Tobago. We sincerely hope that you will treat our concerns with respect and respond to this request by launching an independent forensic investigation into the financial affairs of TTFF, LOC 2006 Germany Ltd, as well as the involvement of the above by Mr Camps and Mr Warner.
Yours Sincerely
Atiba Charles, Cyd Gray, Cornell Glen, Shaka Hislop, Avery John, Stern John, Kenwyne Jones, Kelvin Jack, Collin Samuel, Brent Sancho, Aurtis Whitley, Evans Wise, Anthony Wolfe.
