AG defends Anti-Corruption cops

ATTORNEY GENERAL John Jeremie yesterday condemned the Opposition UNC for alleging that officers of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had been ordered by his office to assassinate the character of prominent citizens in Trinidad and Tobago. In a statement yesterday, the UNC claimed Monday’s police raid on the Maraval home of CL Financial Chairman Lawrence Duprey was “a diversionary tactic to take the heat off the unfolding reports of massive corruption in the PNM Government.” The UNC claimed the ACB was being used to tarnish the reputation of high-profile persons “who may be sympathetic to the UNC” and their actions were politically motivated. Opposition senators reiterated those charges during yesterday’s Budget debate in the Senate.

However, Jeremie reminded the Senate that the ACB was established under former UNC Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj “in an attempt to deal with the difficulties posed by corruption which transcended borders and which challenged the Police Service in terms of its forensic abilities to deal with criminal activity, in particular, corruption.” The AG evoked howls of protest from UNC senators when he said the ACB has remained under the purview of his office since Maharaj’s time. Senate Opposition Leader Wade Mark claimed that Jeremie was misleading Parliament and that the ACB came under the AG’s office during the tenure of Jeremie’s immediate predecessor, Glenda Morean. “Because the ACB operates under the AG, for this reason it had to be provided with certain specific forensic skills which were not available to the Police Service generally. It was created as a unit which was within the office of the AG.

It has continued to function within the office of the AG but it was manned by police officers throughout. It reports to the Commissioner of Police who gives the officers their direct marching orders. The AG provides resources alone to the ACB and this is how it has always been,” Jeremie stated. Senate Vice President Rawle Titus ruled in Jeremie’s favour, after the AG remarked that UNC Senator Dr Tim Gopeesingh had “shamed himself” by his earlier remarks in the debate. Jeremie declared that the UNC’s allegations were an “insult to the hard-working and independent police officers that are trying their best in difficult circumstances.” He added, “It is also to denigrate the constitutional office of the AG, not me personally.” The AG then fired a parting shot at the UNC, reminding them that when former prime minister Basdeo Panday held the national security portfolio, the ACB “received absolutely no resources from the State and its work was stymied.”