You will be struck off Registry

Al-Rawi said massive dragnets to hold persons with a marijuana joint do not stop the engine behind criminality including a foreign element, alluding to tackling white-collar crime.

He said the world body, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has said TT has shortcomings and is dubbed “enhanced follow up”, to remedy shortcoming in disclosing true beneficial ownership, and TT’s prosecution of white-collar offences take too long to do. “There are several pieces of legislation to be introduced this month to deal with clarity behind ownership and specifically to follow the money.” “We see videos of alleged drug lords in mansions. We see them and we say ‘how is it that these people can be so bold faced,” he asked. “We say it is materially important to ‘follow the money’ by making people explain their wealth.” He said he had called an amnesty to let companies get their details and annual returns up to date in the Companies Registry, but with about half still in arrears especially non-profit organisations.

Vowing an aggressive exercise to strike off dubious companies and have their accountable to the law courts, he said such would have been the fate of the company caught exporting cocaine in orange juice cans. “It was a defunct company. They used the name of the company and exported it out.

Monies may have come into the company. You strike it out and you give an account through the court process.” Secondly, he vowed to legislate a requirement for a person’s beneficial ownership of a company to be updated and stated in the Companies Registry under the Companies Act. Non-compliance could see the invocation of the Proceeds of Crime Act. Further, regarding individuals, a major thrust of the new laws will be to reveal the true owner of assets, such as those who try to hide behind legal trusts. “We are bringing to Parliament very shortly specific legislation to target the issue of ownership inland acquisition which is undeclared. There are massive loopholes in the system.

Fraud happens by identity theft in land transactions. ” He hoped to expose persons hiding their identity behind trusts. “White collar crime is the venom in the veins of our citizens.” Al-Rawi hit the former PP government for a legal fees bill of $1.4 billion, including two junior counsel each billing $34 million and $30 million respectively, plus Gerald Ramdeen ($32 million), Vincent Nelson ($55 million), Alan Newman ($58 million) and Akbar Ali ($35 million).

“He opened the Treasury door,” quipped Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, at hearing of one payee