Life of Dennis Davidson

AT ONE time he was considered Trinidad and Tobago’s most wanted man. When he was brought to trial, the allegations against him never stuck.

Dennis Davidson can be regarded as one of Trinidad’s most flamboyant persons. Despite all the money he earned and the macho lifestyle he lived, Davidson died last Wednesday at the Mount Hope Hospital after suffering a stroke and heart attack earlier this month.

Davidson was 62, and the father of 13 children.

Who was Dennis Davidson?

Davidson became one of the leading insurance salesmen in the country. He was one of the few to make the million-dollar round table in the early 1980s. As he lived a carefree life with lots of money, it was obvious he would attract the influential in the society.

At his spacious home at 10 Realspring Aven-ue, Valsayn, Davidson threw some of the best parties, attended by government ministers. Many said he was a strong supporter of the PNM, but Davidson denied this on several occasions. He was very close to West Indies cricket, and when the star-studded Caribbean team was playing in Trinidad, Davidson hosted some of them to lavish parties. He was very close to Clive Lloyd and Michael Holding, to name a few. It was ironic that Davidson died on the eve of the two One-Day Internationals between India and the West Indies in Trinidad.

But Davidson’s world came crashing down in 1987. He was summoned to Police Headquarters in Port-of-Spain and questioned about an EC-O racket, involving United States currency. He was accused of falsifying EC-O documents, getting approval for the purchase of US currency, and then selling them to businessmen who were desperate for foreign cash. Back in those days, US money was not easy to get. Davidson made lots of money from this, although he laughingly denied this.

Although he was a big man in the EC-O scandal, he was released from police custody and given back his passport. That was the signal for Davidson to run away from Trinidad. It did not take long for the then Attorney General Selwyn Richardson to dub Davidson “the most wanted man.”

Where was Davidson, not even the police knew. But as fate would have it, Davidson ran a red light in Orlando, Florida, in July 1987 and was arrested by the police there. When a check was made, the US police discovered that Davidson was a wanted man in Trinidad.

From running a red light, Davidson now faced extradition proceedings to Trinidad. Richardson hired Karl Hudson-Phillips QC to look after the interest of the TT Government in Florida. As the then chairman of BWIA, Hudson-Phillips flew to Orlando for the hearing. He was later succeeded by Rangee Dolsingh from the DPP’s office. Two of the Trinidad investigators, Malcolm Kingston and Hubert Williams, flew to Orlando to assist the US Attorney’s office there.

At the time, I worked at the Trinidad Guardian and Therese Mills was the editor-in-chief. She despatched me to Florida to cover the extradition proceedings. Nothing happened so I returned to Trinidad. To my great surprise, I received a collect call from Davidson at the office one day.

Davidson protested his innocence on the telephone, saying he knew nothing about the allegations. I asked him where he was calling and he said from a phone at the Orlando Federal Detention Centre where he was housed.

I asked him if he was willing to give an interview in prison and he agreed. Again, I was despatched to Orlando. By that time, Davidson was moved to a downtown facility. Gaining access to the prisoner was no problem, he made things easy by clearing the way.

A prison guard took me straight to Davidson’s cell where the interview was conducted. Even in Orlando, Davidson was popular. He had sold the story that he was wealthy and money was no problem. The guards and other prisoners fell for that and Davidson got anything he wanted.

At 4.30 pm, a guard interrupted the interview to remind Davidson it was supper. I had two options — wait until Davidson had eaten, or join him with the other prisoners. I chose to eat because I was hungry at that time. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to see the dining area. What a spread, it certainly was not a prison in my mind. Baked chicken, macaroni pie, beans, salad, and fruits. It was also tasty.

Davidson introduced me to other prisoners who did not appear to be dangerous.

I clearly remembered a Jamai-can prisoner saying, “Dennis is a good man.” Why he said that, I never knew. We continued the interview after supper and eventually it was published. Davidson vowed to fight from the US, but he eventually gave up and voluntarily returned to Trinidad.

He eventually appeared in court to answer several charges. It took a while before he got bail and came out of prison. He hired Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj who was successful in getting him off on all the criminal charges. He hated the NAR whom he said had gone on a witchhunt to get him because he was perceived to be a PNM big fish.

Before one could say Jack Robinson, Davidson was back in town. He threw parties again, although he admitted that his funds had been depleted. He said he had to start all over again. The friends he had before he was arrested had all gone, but when he rose again, they were back.

Although he was acquitted of the EC-O charges, Davidson still had a case with the Customs pending in the Port-of-Spain Magis-trates’ Court. He was absent two weeks ago when the case was called. That was when everyone heard that he had suffered a stroke.

Then came the news that he died on Wednesday night. His Customs case is listed for Wednesday. It seems that once again Dennis Davidson has evaded the law.