Extradition for corruption

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO citizens found guilty of corruption, computer crimes or illegal, electronic transfer of funds can no longer escape the long arm of the law by hiding out in foreign countries. This was the warning sounded by Attorney General Glenda Morean when she piloted the Extradition (Comm-onwealth and Foreign Territories) Order 2003 in Parliament yesterday. The AG said while the original Act of 1985 listed murder and drug-trafficking as extraditable offences, global technological adv-ances have seen an increase in trans-national crimes such as corruption, money laundering and cyber-crime. “In recent times, TT has intensified its efforts to fight corruption which it recognises as a threat to democracy, the economy and the moral fabric of society,” Morean told the Opposition UNC. She said the former regime amended the Act’s schedule in 1995 to include offences under the Treason and Firearms Acts. Morean further recalled that on April 15,1998, the UNC Gove-rnment signed and ratified the Inter-American Con-vention against corruption and joined 92 countries in signing the 1997 Lima Declaration on Corruption. “These international conventions provide guidelines for the various measures which states can adopt to facilitate better investigation, prosecution and prevention of this most brutish form of criminal activity. The Prevention of Corruption Act of TT in accordance with the Convention provides a sound legislative framework for the prevention of corruption,” Morean said, subtly hinting at the UNC government’s failure to deal with corruption..

She declared it has now become necessary to amend the 1995 Act, in accordance with Articles 6 and 13 of the Lima Convention, to include corruption as an extraditable offence. Noting growing concerns about computer misuse and credit card fraud, the AG stated: “Both the Computer Misuse Act 2000 and Electronic Transfer of Funds Act 2000 provide the legislative framework for prevention of computer crimes as well as credit card fraud. It has therefore become necessary to include these acts as extraditable offences to be listed in the first schedule of the Act of 1995.” Pointe-a-Pierre MP Gillian Lucky expressed concern about compatibility of evidence in extradition matters, recalling her role as a State attorney in the extradition of Lolita Saroop to the United States in the early 1990s. She called for “a special police force” and prosecutors to deal with sensitive matters involving extradition and crooked cops. She wondered why the authority to investigate such matters was shifted from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to the Office of the Attorney General. Morean reminded Lucky that this transfer occurred under the UNC.