Farouk Warris arrested on a number of charges

After evading the police for a number of weeks, a Valsayn lawyer, Farouk Warris, who is wanted in the US for contempt of court and jumping bond, was arrested yesterday by members of the Anti Corruption Investiga-tions Bureau. Reports state that officers of the AICB, responded to a tip off and conducted an undercover operation at the Hilton Hotel, where Warris was held. Warris also has other matters pending including fraud-related matters in which he is alleged to have fraudulently obtained $2 million from the Customs and Excise Depart-ment and a car dealer. In order to have him answer to the charges, Warris was extradited from the United Kingdom in 2003. Warris was granted bail for those matters on the condition that he reports to the St Joseph police station Mondays and Thursdays between 8-10 am. However last week, Warris, after showing for his Monday appointment, did not show up on Thursday, which sparked intense searches by police officers to locate him.

Officers of the AICB believed Warris might have gotten word of a provisional warrant that had been obtained for his arrest on March 18, causing him to go into hiding. However word reaching the AICB resulted in Warris’ capture yesterday. Officers involv-ed in Warris’ capture included PCS Matthews and Dickson and WPCs Patrick and Ramoutar. The operation was spearheaded by Snr Sup Maurice Pigott. Sources informed Newsday that Warris did not resist arrest. Following his capture, Warris was taken away by officers of the AICB. He will appear before a Port-of-Spain Magistrate today to answer charges of extradition to the US. Investigations are continuing.