Senior Reporter
andrea.perez-sobers
@guardian.co.tt
Businessman Dominic Hadeed, 52 and his wife, Genevieve Hadeed, 42, have been detained as part of an investigation into an alleged conspiracy to murder, according to search warrants issued in their names and signed by High Court Master Valene Guerra-Abraham on June 24. However, the documents do not disclose the identity of any intended victim or victims.
Hours after details of the investigation emerged, Dominic Hadeed, Genevieve Hadeed and her aunt, Star Sabga, were placed under Preventative Detention Orders (PDOs) and taken into custody at the Eastern Correctional Rehabilitation Centre and the Women’s Prison, respectively. It was not immediately clear for what alleged offence Sabga, 69, was held.
The warrants, obtained by Cpl Eldon Calliste of the Special Branch, state that the indictable offence is contrary to Section 5(a) of the Offences Against the Person Act, Chapter 11:08.
The information was released yesterday when High Court judge Frank Seepersad declined to immediately grant an urgent habeas corpus application filed on behalf of Hadeed and his wife, Genevieve, and instead ordered the Commissioner of Police, Allister Guevarro, to explain the legal basis on which the couple continues to be detained. Justice Seepersad denied the ex parte application filed by Senior Counsel Faris Al-Rawi but directed that the application, supporting affidavit, and certificate of urgency be served on the Commissioner of Police by 4 pm yesterday. The matter has been fixed for a virtual hearing at 9 am tomorrow. Guardian Media understands Commissioner Guevarro was served with the court documents yesterday and acknowledged receipt. Efforts to obtain a response from him proved unsuccessful.
In the matter, the judge also expressly directed the Commissioner of Police to clarify whether the applicants are being detained pursuant to a Preventive Detention Order (PDO). The PDOs were later issued.
Affidavit describes cockroaches, ‘inhumane’ cell conditions
The affidavit filed by Al-Rawi alleged that both Hadeeds have been subjected to degrading conditions while in police custody.
He said Genevieve Hadeed was held in a cell at the Woodbrook Police Station measuring about eight feet by six feet, with a dirty terrazzo floor, no bedding or furniture, a hole in the floor used as a toilet, and no running water.
The affidavit states the cell smelled strongly of faeces and urine, had poor ventilation and dim fluorescent lighting, while cockroaches crawled across the floor. Hadeed’s aunt, Star Sabga, was said to have been curled up on the ground in a foetal position.
Al-Rawi also complained that legal consultations with Genevieve Hadeed took place within earshot of a police officer because the interview room door remained open and had been propped open with a paint bucket.
The affidavit also describes Dominic Hadeed’s detention at the Carenage Police Station.
Al-Rawi claimed Dominic Hadeed suffers from sleep apnea and requires the use of a CPAP machine every night, while also wearing an orthopaedic leg brace. Despite police being informed of those medical issues, he alleged Dominic Hadeed was forced to sleep on a bare concrete slab without access to electricity to operate the CPAP machine, leaving him unable to sleep.
Searches and seizures
The application stemmed from the arrest of the Hadeeds on June 24 during the execution of search warrants linked to an investigation into an alleged conspiracy to murder.
Their arrests came several days after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar endorsed Attorney General John Jeremie’s June 10 warning in Parliament that no segment of society, including the so-called “one per cent”, was beyond the reach of the law.
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) has maintained that the execution of a search warrant is a standard investigative procedure and does not constitute a finding of wrongdoing.
In his affidavit, Al-Rawi said Genevieve Hadeed contacted him shortly after police entered the couple’s Bayshore, Westmoorings home.
She told him officers searched the residence after identifying themselves and informing the couple they had a warrant to seize electronic devices. The affidavit stated that she observed several officers armed with machine guns inside the house while police seized electronic devices belonging to the couple and their children.
Al-Rawi claimed the Hadeeds were only informed they were under arrest after the searches had already been completed.
Police later took the couple to the Special Branch offices at Agra Court before escorting Dominic Hadeed to Blue Waters’ Orange Grove offices, where officers searched his office and seized electronic devices.
When Al-Rawi, Senior Counsel Gilbert Peterson and attorney Carlon McLeod later met the couple at Agra Court, Dominic Hadeed handed them copies of the search warrants together with a handwritten inventory of property seized.
The affidavit alleged he was instructed to sign the inventory without first being allowed to verify that the items listed matched those displayed by investigators.
Among the items listed as seized were several Apple iPhones, a black Samsung M1017 mobile phone, an Apple laptop computer, five iPads, flash drives, hard drives, and other electronic storage devices.
Dominic Hadeed was later taken to Gulf City Mall, where police seized firearms and ammunition lawfully held under a Firearm User’s Licence and Firearm User’s Employee’s Certificate after being shown receipts confirming payment of the 2026 licensing fees.
Challenge to detention
A central issue in the application concerns the legal basis for the Hadeeds’ continued detention.
Al-Rawi claimed Assistant Superintendent WPC Rawlins informed him on Thursday evening that the extension of the couple’s detention had not been obtained under either a Preventive Detention Order or the Emergency Powers Regulations.
However, minutes later, Genevieve Hadeed produced a written direction issued under Regulation 13(3) of the Emergency Powers Regulations, 2026, extending her detention for up to seven days. Dominic Hadeed was later served with a similar notice at the Carenage Police Station.
The affidavit argued the Emergency Powers Regulations cannot lawfully justify the detention because the couple was originally arrested while police executed ordinary search warrants relating to an alleged conspiracy to murder investigation.
It further contended that conspiracy to murder is not an offence under the Emergency Powers Regulations and therefore the regulations cannot subsequently be relied upon to authorise their continued detention.
Al-Rawi also detailed what he claimed were repeated delays in the investigation, stating investigators first advised they were seeking guidance from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions before later indicating interviews could not proceed because they were awaiting a report from the Cyber Crime Unit.
The affidavit stated the legal team repeatedly advised investigators that both Dominic and Genevieve Hadeed remained available and willing to participate in interviews.
It also revealed that Genevieve Hadeed’s elderly aunt, Star Sabga, was arrested at Regents Towers, Westmoorings, before later being interviewed by the legal team at Agra Court.
TTPS: PDOs obtained
Hours after the court proceedings, the TTPS announced that investigators had obtained Preventive Detention Orders for a 52-year-old businessman and two businesswomen, aged 69 and 42, all of Westmoorings.
Police said the orders were granted pursuant to the Emergency Powers Regulations and were executed in the presence of the detainees’ attorneys-at-law.
The TTPS said the three individuals were assisting investigators and had since been transferred into the custody of the Trinidad and Tobago Prisons Service, where they are being held at their designated places of detention.
What the warrants detail
As the investigation into the arrest of Dominic Hadeed and his wife Genevieve deepens, new information has surfaced that the couple was arrested in connection with the offence of conspiracy to murder.
The information is contained in two search warrants issued in the names of the couple and signed by High Court Master Valene Guerra-Abraham on June 24. However, there is no disclosure of any intended victim (s).
The indictable offence is contrary to Section 5 (a) of the Offences Against the Person Act, Chapter 11:08.
The warrants were obtained by Cpl Eldon Calliste of the Special Branch.
A quantity of electronic devices including laptops, cellphones, flash drives, hard drives, portable storage devices and documents were seized from the two suspects.
According to the warrant issued in the name of Genevieve, two locations at Orange Grove Estate, Trincity and Western Circle, Westmoorings were searched; while the warrant for Dominic listed locations at Golden Grove Road, Piarco and Bayshore, Westmoorings.
It is alleged the devices contained evidence including photographs, recordings, documents, voice notes, videos, audio recordings, CCTV footage, texts, location data, including GPS, location history, application data, communications data, stored communication or stored data in digital or electronic format.
Copies of the warrants formed part of the application by a team of attorneys representing the couple, which was filed in the High Court yesterday morning.
Also included in the bundle was a list of items seized which claimed six Apple Iphones; three laptops; seven Ipads; two flash drives: one central processing unit; and one portable storage device.
The couple was arrested on June 24, and have remained in custody ever since.
