Duprey: Cops left empty-handed

CL FINANCIAL Chairman Lawrence Duprey yesterday evening denied newspaper reports that documents were seized from his Fairways home in Maraval during a raid by Anti-Corruption Bureau officers on Monday. Speaking with reporters after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding signalling the start of the ammonia/urea melamine project in Point Lisas, Duprey said, “the reports printed by the media houses were inaccurate.” He denied that he was at home at the time of the incident, noting that he was engaged in a business meeting at the time the search party arrived at his home, and was advised to return home. Duprey told reporters that the “interruption” caused him losses in the sum of $250,000, since the other party did not stay any longer and he was unable to complete a transaction. He said he would now have to try to continue with that negotiation.

He added that while the incident has affected his foreign investments, it has not “tarnished” his reputation or embarrassed him in any way. He said that due to large investments made outside of Trinidad and Tobago, people wanted to know what was going on and contacted him on Monday night. He said that while most of them were satisfied with his explanation of the events, others adopted a wait-and-see approach. Describing the investigation as one that “pervades in a society in a part of a new way of life that is terrorism,” Duprey said that during the 20-minute search, the officers asked him for a number of documents which he told them he did not have. He said after “performing their duty,” the officers left “empty handed.” Asked whether he viewed this as a means of embarrassing him, Duprey said that in his view the officers were just doing their job, which includes the investigation of CL Financial.