Senior Reporter
High Court Judge Margaret Mohammed has disclosed her reasons for granting a Preliminary Unexplained Wealth Order (PUWO) against the People’s National Movement (PNM), for it to reveal the financing for the renovation and construction of its Balisier House headquarters in Port-of-Spain.
Justice Mohammed provided her written reasons yesterday, in response to a request by PNM general secretary Foster Cummings, who was served with the order on behalf of the party along with its trustees.
Guardian Media understands Cummings has also applied for the order to be set aside, which is yet to be considered by Justice Mohammed.
In the 23-page document, Justice Mohammed ruled she was satisfied with the argument of ASP Ramdath Phillip, head of the T&T Police Service (TTPS) Legal Unit, who was authorised by Police Commissioner Allister Guervarro to make the application under the provisions of the Civil Asset Recovery and Management and Unexplained Wealth Act.
Ironically, the legislation was introduced by the PNM while in government in 2019.
Justice Mohammed said: “I was satisfied that there was sufficient evidence for the applicant (Phillip) to reasonably suspect that the total wealth of the respondents (PNM) exceeds the value of their lawfully obtained wealth.”
“I am satisfied that the applicant had a reasonable suspicion that the costs for the construction of the new building and the costs for renovating the old building were obtained through the commission of one or more offences of bribery or corruption,” she added.
She referred to the party’s constitution, under which its Parliamentarians (MPs and Senators) are required to remit a percentage of their salaries, set by the general council, to the party.
While she noted that the percentage was initially seven and a half per cent, former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley claimed the percentage stood at five per cent in March this year.
Using the higher percentage, the number of PNM Parliamentarians between 2020 and 2025 and the average salaries of the officials, Justice Mohammed said the party would have collected a little over $500,000 per annum from the levy during the period.
Justice Mohammed also referred to statements made by Rowley at a public meeting in Sangre Grande when he became leader in May 2010. At the time, Rowley claimed the party was in over $4 million debt. She also referenced Rowley’s claims that the party raised over $15 million through fundraising, including a long-running multi-car raffle.
Dealing with the costs associated with the project, including the renovation of an old building and construction of a new multi-storey building, Justice Mohammed noted that an exact figure was not disclosed by the party, according to Phillip.
Phillip referred to a report commissioned by the Office of the Attorney General from the United Kingdom-based Berkeley Research Group, which estimated the total cost of the new building at approximately $118 million and claimed the cost of construction to date at $73 million.
Justice Mohammed also referenced Phillip’s evidence over the agreed construction price for the new building.
She noted that the TTPS claimed it received information from an informant that the successful bidder submitted a bid worth $68.3 million but reduced the price to $59 million.
She referenced that Phillip claimed the company received lucrative contracts from the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) between 2019 and 2023, despite allegedly not being the lowest bidder.
She pointed to Phillip’s claims that the contract for Balisier House did not include several significant and costly elements of work, including the cost of steel and steel fabrication, the construction of a basement and work on the building’s façade.
“Even if the total construction costs were limited to $59 million payable under the contract with the contractor (which there is strong reason to suspect they were not), the PNM had no obvious source of legitimate income from which to meet even those costs, and there are questions that call for an explanation as to how the PNM raised the money to pay for those works,” Phillip said.
Justice Mohammed also explained her reasons for granting an application for PNM leader Pennelope Beckles to be served with the order via post rather than in person. She noted that the TTPS detailed the difficulties it allegedly had in contacting Beckles and PNM chairman Marvin Gonzales after the order was granted on July 10. She said she was satisfied that the proposed alternative service method would be effective in informing them of the ongoing proceedings.
Following reports on the order, the PNM denied any alleged wrongdoing in relation to the project.
It also questioned how the court documents were leaked to a media house before being officially served and how the same media house published a photograph of Cummings being served with the documents at the Piarco International Airport after returning from a trip abroad.
Gonzales also set fire to an alleged copy of the documents while addressing a public meeting last week.
Gonzales reported to the Law Association
Guardian Media understands that Gonzales’ conduct in relation to the documents has been reported to the Law Association of T&T (LATT).
In a letter sent to the association yesterday, attorney Aaron Mahabir reported the incident and called for a public statement reprimanding it, as well as consideration of disciplinary proceedings against Gonzales, who is an attorney.
“Any member who becomes the subject of a complaint is entitled to due process and that machinery is not mine to short-circuit,” Mahabir said.
“What I am asking is that the association do what it has done before when conduct of this kind has arisen: use its public voice to tell the country where the profession stands,” he added.
Mahabir explained why he was concerned by the conduct and why LATT should weigh in on it.
“To burn one (court order) in public, while declaring that the party will not be afraid of it, sends an unmistakable message. A message that a court order is worth exactly as much as the goodwill of whoever it happens to be served upon,” Mahabir said.
He said he was troubled by the association’s failure to immediately address the conduct.
“Silence, however innocently arrived at, is easily misread, particularly where the member concerned holds high political office, as indifference, or worse, as the selective application of a standard that ought to apply to all of us equally,” Mahabir said.
The TTPS is also represented by Anthony Peto, KC, Thomas Cleaver and Dayadai Harripaul.
