Blue Waters Products Ltd owner Dominic Hadeed and his wife were detained by police yesterday following searches at the couple’s residence in West Trinidad and Hadeed’s Trincity businessplace.
Police sources said officers from a specialised unit, some in plain clothes and some in uniform, arrived at the couple’s home in Shorelands and announced the search of the property.
They seized several electronic devices, including laptops.
Electronic devices belonging to the couple’s children were also taken by investigators, sources confirmed.
Investigators then drove the businessman to one of his businesses in Trincity to conduct additional searches as part of ongoing enquiries, sources said.
However, it could not be ascertained up to late yesterday if anything had been seized from this location.
A media release from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) later yesterday morning stated that arising out of an ongoing investigation, officers executed search warrants lawfully issued by the Supreme Court of Judicature at locations in Westmoorings and Trincity.
During the execution of these warrants, “two individuals were detained and are currently assisting investigators with enquiries”, the release stated.
No charges had been laid up to last night.
The TTPS emphasised in its release that “the execution of a warrant is a standard investigative procedure and does not constitute a finding of wrongdoing. All actions taken by officers were conducted strictly within the parameters of the law, under judicial authority, and with full regard for the rights and reputational interests of all persons involved”.
The TTPS also cautioned that “no conclusions should be drawn regarding the status of any individual until investigations are completed and any evidence is properly assessed in accordance with due process.
“As this matter remains active, no additional details can be disclosed at this stage. The TTPS remains committed to conducting all investigations with professionalism, fairness, and respect for the rule of law.”
Hours after the media release, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Owie Russell, who spoke during a news conference at the Police Administration Building, Port of Spain, said only: “At this time, the investigation is at a sensitive stage, so we also as the TTPS need to be responsible as to what we put into the domain of the media and the public.”
Winner of several awards
When the Express visited the businessman’s Trincity office yesterday, operations appeared to have been unaffected, and employees were seen entering and leaving at different times.
A security guard told the Express he had only been made aware of his employer’s detention by the media.
“It was shocking. I saw it online, but if you didn’t know about it, based on operations today, you wouldn’t have been able to guess (what had happened).”
Calls to Hadeed’s telephone yesterday also went unanswered as of late yesterday.
Hadeed is a well-known entrepreneur with extensive interests in manufacturing, real estate, hospitality and agriculture.
His name is however most associated with Blue Waters.
The businessman has also been a prominent advocate for local manufacturing and economic policy reform and has received several awards for entrepreneurship and business leadership, among them Master Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015 by the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
