Despite $1B spent, investigations into EMBD and LifeSport shelvedGuardian Media Investigations Desk
The police investigations into the Estate Management and Business Development Company (EMBD) and LifeSport, which were being led by British investigator Kate McMahon (a Special Reserve Police), have been shelved.
Guardian Media was told that despite the work by McMahon’s team being close to completion, it has been put on pause.
McMahon’s team was contracted and funded by the Government and worked alongside the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, through the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB), on several police investigations. McMahon’s team also used Ed Jenkins, KC, for legal guidance in the build-out of the cases.
The work fell largely under the ambit of former commissioner of police Gary Griffith. Guardian Media was told that during and after Griffith’s departure, McMahon’s work was being stymied and stalled by the TTPS as requests for warrants to be executed were not completed. “There seems to be a lack of responsibility toward completing it,” the source said.
An informed source explained that the evidence gathered can still be used, provided it meets the required threshold, and the work can be completed if there is a commitment to doing so.
Thus far, it has been reported that McMahon’s team has collected $50 million in fees.
In 2015, the People’s National Movement (PNM) campaigned against the People’s Partnership government over two high-profile corruption issues: EMBD and LifeSport.
The total amount spent on these two matters has already exceeded $1 billion in taxpayers’ dollars.
The TTPS could not immediately provide an update on the matter.
EMBDThe EMBD matter involved two elements—a civil and a criminal matter. The 2020 status report on the EMBD matter alleged a top former government official “orchestrated a scheme that resulted in significant funds being secured and spent by EMBD in the six weeks before the general election on 7th September 2015, approximately $549 million.”
According to that report, the official was able to implement the fraudulent scheme with the assistance of EMBD’s companies owned by his apparently close acquaintances, who were invited to tender for a road contract.
“By the time the tender had come around, the EMBD’s estimates for the cost of the roads had been arbitrarily inflated to $416,340,445 by (name called). This meant the bidders could bid higher,” the report said.
In 2020, a Guardian Media exclusive reported an email from McMahon to the TTPS in which she raised concern about the EMBD matter. At the time, she said that her team had intensified their communication with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in “relation to the cases we are seeking to charge.”
She indicated that there were three cases now being actively investigated (EMBD, LifeSport, and EFCL) and “two which are currently being assessed for charge by the DPP and the third which is at an advanced stage and has warrants to be executed, which will, we believe, reveal money laundering and funding for the 2015 election via government contract fees.”
She added that “there are reasonable grounds to suspect criminal behaviour.”
McMahon also pointed out a third matter has also been considered. “We wish to execute a search soon on (name called), who is central to our investigation with the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB). This is an important matter of public policy, and we urge that, on the evidence as it stands, there are reasonable grounds to suspect criminal behaviour and warrant a search,” McMahon said.
McMahon noted that with a search warrant under section 5 (1) of the Indictable Offences (Preliminary Enquiry Act 1917), “there is a general authority granted to a police officer to search specified premises in accordance with a validly issued search warrant under this section.” She said once the magistrate was satisfied that the place in question to search may have evidence “as to the commission of any such offence,” the DPP’s permission is not needed.
She said she was optimistic that “the DPP may see fit to advance the cases we have put before him.”
The UK firm partner advised that “unless the warrant was particularly tricky or difficult, the officers should be encouraged to (a) not go to the DPP for assistance with routine policing and (b) if they do have concerns or need help, they use the TTPS legal department.”
With the criminal aspect on hold pending the police investigation, the EMBD has sought to retrieve taxpayers’ dollars through civil cases called the cartel claim. Last year, the Privy Council refused permission to some of the contractors to appeal the refusal of the Court of Appeal not to throw out the multimillion-dollar claim against them or provide better particulars of the allegations.
The substantive lawsuit centres around 12 contracts for the rehabilitation of roads and infrastructure granted to five contractors before the September 2015 general election. The contractors—TN Ramnauth and Company Ltd, its CEO Taradauth Ramnauth, Kall Co and Mootilal Ramhit and Sons Contracting Ltd had initiated proceedings against the state-owned special purpose company for the almost $200 million balance owed on their respective contracts.
The EMBD countersued the contractors, claiming they conspired with Moonilal, former EMBD CEO Gary Parmassar, ex-divisional manager Madhoo Balroop, and engineer Andrew Walker to corruptly obtain the contracts.
Also sued by EMBD are Fides Ltd, Namalco Construction Services Ltd, and LCB Contractors Ltd.
LifeSportIt has been ten years since the controversial LifeSport programme ended, and no one has yet been held accountable. In a 2020 Police Status Report on the matter, the TTPS said it had obtained in excess of 25 production orders against individuals and banking organisations and interviewed many witnesses, “which has generated valuable new evidence in support of the allegations.”
“The new evidence has uncovered clear bribes paid to public officials in return for favours and large kickbacks to high-level public officials who were alleged to be at the forefront of the corruption,” the document stated.
“It is alleged that a number of persons from the Ministry of Sport, the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago and contractor companies associated with the delivery of the LifeSport programme were involved in various conspiracies to misappropriate funds allocated to the programme for their own use and benefit.
“A total sum of $349,500,000 was allocated to LifeSport between 2012 and 2014, funded through a combination of budgetary allocations made by the Ministry of Sport and bank loans, done in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and the Economy.
“A significant portion of those funds are alleged to have been misappropriated by many individuals at all levels of the programme. This includes a number of high-ranking public officials allegedly tunnelling millions of dollars out of the programme to purchase real estate, boats, vehicles and to fund weddings, amongst other things,” the document said.
It noted that the police investigation began in 2015 and that one suspect “has been assisting the TTPS with the investigation, providing key information about how the programme was manipulated to enable so many individuals to obtain personal benefits to the detriment of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”
A 2014 audit done by the Ministry of Finance’s Central Audit Committee revealed that the programme has been riddled with financial irregularities; had coordinators with criminal backgrounds; massive fraud; millions misspent; ghost centres; ghost participants; improper procurement; and there were major thefts of state funds.
While millions were lost in padded invoices to contractors, the $34 million payment to educator Adolphus Daniell to teach numeracy and technology to people in the programme was the single biggest payment of the programme for no work.
In August, last year, High Court Judge Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell upheld the Sports Company of T&T (SporTT) lawsuit with Daniel’s company eBeam Interact Limited and ordered it to repay almost $30 million.
SporTT also pursued a case against its former chief executive officer John Mollenthiel and thirteen former board members for their role in approving the contract with eBeam.
The case went on trial late last year after the outcome of the eBeam case with the former board members all denying any wrongdoing.
The judgment in that case is still pending.
When she laid the report in Parliament, then-former prime minister Persad-Bissessar said she had forwarded a copy of it to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Commissioner of Police, Integrity Commission, and head of the Public Service.
Then-sports minister Anil Roberts subsequently resigned from the Cabinet and as D’Abadie/O’Meara MP on July 31, 2014. At the time, former LifeSport programme director Cornelius Price had described the audit as “sloppy”.
But former finance minister Larry Howai, under whose remit the audit was undertaken, had responded, “I am not aware of the context in which the allegation that the audit was sloppy is being made, but all of the supporting documentation is available to support the various statements that were made in the audit. I expect that a lot of allegations will be made by various persons associated with the programme in a direct or indirect attempt to try to prove their innocence or even to drag as many persons through the mud with them as possible, but the Ministry of Finance and the Economy stands by the results of the audit and the professionalism of the senior officers of the ministry and its overall position in this matter.”
In 2016, Justice Mira Dean-Armorer ruled that the report should be sent back to the audit team. She did not support the argument that the audit team acted irrationally or in bad faith. Guardian Media did not get a response on whether the CAC had redone the audit.
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