US Govt seeks to confiscate $94.5M from local businessmen and others

Addressing the media during a brief press conference at his Cabildo Chambers office yesterday, Attorney General John Jeremie said the US authorities had already requested this country’s assistance in locating Galbaransingh and Ferguson, and had sought information on one of the companies — Northern Construction Ltd — which is a local company. That company and several of the persons named on the indictments are already before the courts of Trinidad and Tobago on criminal charges. However, Jeremie could not say if the new charges would take precedence over the local charges.

According to Jeremie, the indictments which were unsealed on Tuesday, in the southern district of Florida, alleged that Galbaransingh, Ferguson, Raul Gutierrez, Rene Diaz de Villegas, Eduardo Hillman-Waller, Armando Paz, Richard Lacle, Leonardo Mora Rodriguez, Northern Construction Ltd and Calmaquip Engineering Corporation had committed several offences, including wire fraud, transportation of stolen funds, money laundering and conspiracy to launder money.

Jeremie said the indictments also alleged that "the purpose of the conspiracy was to defraud the government of Trinidad and Tobago by manipulating the bid process for certain Piarco International Airport construction packages so that the defendants and their related companies would unjustly enrich themselves through the receipt of proceeds from excessively inflated contracts."

The AG, who claimed he always believed that the Piarco project fraud and corruption case involved serious crimes, said the indictments disclosed that it was a "transnational crime involving at its core, the exploitation of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

Millions of dollars, the AG said, had been illegally transferred from this country to banks and financial institutions worldwide through "ghost" companies.

However, due to what he described as the "sensitive" nature of the matter, Jeremie was reluctant to entertain questions regarding the issue.

In handing down the indictments, Jeremie said, the US was sending a clear message to persons guilty of conducting the illegal transfer of money from one jurisdiction to another that they could no longer avoid prosecution. "Whether it is terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering or any serious crime, criminal activity shall be punished," Jeremie said.

He said his office and the Justice Department in the US had collaborated over the years on several issues, including mutual legal assistance and extradition. He added that the indictments represented "the fruit" of that collaboration. "These indictments are unprecedented in the history of Trinidad and Tobago. They represent an unprecedented level of co-operation with our international partners, Jeremie added.

However, Jeremie added,, the actions taken by the US were in no way connected to the civil case he had filed in the US aimed at recovering US$105 million in compensatory damages for the funds misappropriated from the State.