AG to fight all bobol

ATTORNEY GENERAL John Jeremie will tackle all cases of corruption coming his way, he promised the Senate in the Budget debate on Tuesday night. He lamented the “worrying signal” sent by Trinidad and Tobago’s fall to 53rd in the world in the annual corruption perception index of Transparency International. Apparently alluding to events under the former UNC administration, however, Jeremie blamed the fall on the “revelations that have taken place in relation to some of the well-publicised prosecutions which are now underway and in relation to some of the matters which are now under investigation as we speak.” He said that as more and more cases of corruption are prosecuted, the general public could become cynical and view the practise of Government as inherently corrupt. Jeremie said it was his “solemn vow” to reverse both the perception and the reality of corruption in Trinidad and Tobago. “It is a responsibility which I shall not shirk.” Corruption was a cancer, he said, which could undermine our democracy.

He vowed to continue holding commissions of inquiry into corruption, saying the public was entitled to an accounting of stolen monies. “That type of reckoning comes to all who steal from the public purse. The most disturbing signal a Government can send is to allow reports and allegations of corruption to go unchecked and without investigation.” He said the ministry was prosecuting current cases of corruption by recruiting forensic experts, investigators and attorneys to track the legal and financial trail to places like Florida, Jersey and Liechtenstein. Such cases could not be quickly resolved because they involved “complex money transactions across multiple legal jurisdictions between a myriad of companies registered in practically every territory of the globe, against a multiple of potential accused persons, with each accused person having the right to counsel and due process.” Jeremie said if the State failed to fight corruption this would send a dangerous message that corruption was permissible. “We shall pursue with equal vigour, all, and I repeat all reports and allegations of corruption, and ultimately the State shall do its duty.”