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...uncovers illegal tapping of phones, monitoring of text messages and e-mails
By Lennox Grant
Story Created: Nov 10, 2010 at 10:46 PM ECT
Story Updated: Nov 10, 2010 at 10:46 PM ECT
An early-morning police raid, ordered by Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs, on a secret snooping agency within the National Security Ministry has brought to light an extensive list, including Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and private citizens, whose phone calls, text messages and e-mails have been monitored over five years.
Special Branch and Anti-Corruption Investigation Bureau officers, who locked down the St Vincent Street, Port of Spain, offices of the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA) at 6 a.m. on October 23, also found $5.9 million in a fireproof safe and a stash of firearms.
In a shock response to the discovery of an elaborately equipped and well-funded "intercept suite" within the SIA, the People's Partnership administration, as disclosed in Government documents made available for viewing yesterday, has:
• fired Nigel Clement, director of both the Strategic Services Agency and the SIA
• retained two Canadian technology security experts to sweep for further evidence of the tapping of phone, text and e-mail messages, and to develop a secure communications network for use by the Prime Minister and top officials
• begun a review and reorganisation of State security apparatus to discover exactly which agencies are doing what and to clarify their lines of reporting
• drafted for tabling in Parliament tomorrow a bill to outlaw interception of private communication, unless authorised by the order of a High Court judge.
The National Security Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, though weekly briefed by National Security Ministry agencies, had been, until two weeks ago, kept in the dark about the existence and the activities of the SIA "intercept suite".
Documents detailing investigators' findings listed dates and times and brief reasons for interception of the electronic communications people targeted under a variety of titled "operations". The targets include politicians of all parties, independent senators, trade unionists, High Court and Appeal Court judges, county councillors, business people, academics, media people, lawyers in private practice and popular comedians.
What remains unknown to officials is who received the information gathered from such sources and what use was made of it.
But they say the SIA, with some 200 staff, has operated out of various safe houses, and ran private companies as fronts for its channelling of millions of dollars of cash to people described as "informants".
The discovery of deep-secret telecommunications snooping by SIA heightened curiosity about which other agencies have been tapping into private talk and electronic chat.
Immediately before the firing of Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT) director Brig Peter Joseph, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar had charged SAUTT had tapped her own phones and that of others.
Hard evidence of this has not come from sweeps of SAUTT systems, however. In one document reviewed yesterday, a SAUTT technical manager last September called on all staff to remove from the system all compromising material at this critical time while SAUTT is under scrutiny.
It was in response to the 1990 security failings connected with the coup attempt that the SSA had been enacted by Parliament in 1995. Under the SSA Act, President Max Richards yesterday signed the order revoking the appointment of Clement.
On April 1, the Patrick Manning Cabinet had appointed Clement, a former Coast Guard officer, the director of both the SSA and the lesser-known SIA. Government documents showed a July 2009 Cabinet decision to amalgamate the SSA, the SIA and the Police Special Branch into a single unit.
This decision had apparently not been implemented by last month when the Special Branch, with the ACIB, busted the SIA and proceeded up a wider investigation involving telecommunications intercepts, millions of unaccoun- ted cash dollars, and unregistered firearms.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is expected to address the issue in Parliament tomorrow.
Govt uncovers secret spy unit
By SEAN DOUGLAS Thursday, November 11 2010
THE People’s Partnership Government has just learnt that even after they took office after the May 24 general election, their members were secretly spied on by a shadowy agency whose existence was not even widely known.
“They were totally off the radar,” bemoaned a top Government Minister to Newsday yesterday.
A top-secret spy unit, the Special Intelligence Agency (SIA), kept spying on members of the Government and members of the Opposition, even after the recent change of regime, said the minister. The unit used wiretapping to spy on top members of the PNM, UNC and COP, plus an array of other top persons in public life, since 2005 until its spying operations were shut down a fortnight ago after exposure by Special Branch of the TT Police Service.
The source alleged that the spy unit was set up by a former high-ranking official of the former PNM government, to which the unit continued to report to even after the change in regime. “He was tapping his own people,” said the source.
Newsday understands those politicians who were spied on include Prime Minister Kamla Persad- Bissessar, COP leader Winston Dookeran, Works Minister Jack Warner and Leader of the Opposition Dr Keith Rowley. The minister lamented that instead of gathering information to fight crime, the spy unit helped the former high-ranking official politically.
The SIA spied on their targets by not only wiretapping their cell-phones and land-lines, but also by intercepting their emails and cell-phone “text” messages.
Newsday understands the SIA was spying on members of the present Government, members of the parliamentary Opposition, members of the media including reporters and editors, trade unionists, environmentalists, university lecturers, members of the Judiciary, and even a popular comedian. “High level persons were tapped without their knowledge or consent,” complained the source.
Newsday was told that among the persons whose cellphones and land-lines were tapped were top members of the media.
The source said the new Government had initially thought they had solved the problem of wiretapping done under the former regime by the Special Anti-Crime Unit of TT (SAUTT) by appointing a Steering Committee to examine SAUTT’s role and future, and by changing the SAUTT leadership, until recently learning of the hitherto unknown SIA that operated independently of SAUTT.
This secret unit had bases in Port-of-Spain and across north Trinidad, said the source, and employed 200 persons on staff.
The minister said that two weeks ago, police officers from Special Branch locked down the spy unit. The source alleged that $5.8 million in cash was found in a vault at the premises of the unit, which the source speculated was a slush fund to finance the day to day expenses of the unit. The minister alleged massive corruption in the use of this money, saying employees of the unit were paid to become suppliers of goods to the unit, such as selling the unit a car.
The source lamented the phone-tapping, saying it could have been used to try to blackmail judges to rule a certain way in a court case involving members of the PNM.
Special Branch moved in on the unit on October 28 to head off attempts to “sanitise” the system. The minister said the Government has fired the unit head, an ex-Coast Guard officer who had been hired just one month before the last general election to head the unit and head the legitimate Strategic Services Agency.
The minister said that a forensic audit must now be done.
The source told Newsday that the head of the unit had sent out a letter dated September 28 to all staff as a coded message to delete sensitive files from their computer systems, titled, “Subject: Personal File Sharing”, to try to head off a pending probe by Special Branch.
Cabinet, said the minister, will appoint a new head and decided on the future of the unit, which although tainted, is said to have an extraordinary technological capability to tackle the criminal element.
The minister said more revelations are expected on Friday in the Lower House.
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pugboy wrote:anybody gonna get lockup for this ?
wagonrunner wrote:well look something to occupy the "flock"
taxpayer monies being spent for personal satisfaction, but......... see. i was really always a victim.
pioneer wrote:Welcome to the modern world, it's done in MANY countries world wide. It's called National Security.
You preferred if terrorists were able to plot n overthrow a government in power?
I support covert security agencies fully. If it weren't for them this world would be a warzone and flying on a plane won't be very pleasant
Only those who have things to hide will be bothered by this.
SUPAstarr wrote:This is all smoke because i am very sure a covert operations unit will be retained under the national security umbrella.
MG Man wrote:wagonrunner wrote:well look something to occupy the "flock"
taxpayer monies being spent for personal satisfaction, but......... see. i was really always a victim.
yuh tink so?
wait till yuh see de last page in de nex issue ah Zorce
Bezman wrote:pioneer wrote:Welcome to the modern world, it's done in MANY countries world wide. It's called National Security.
You preferred if terrorists were able to plot n overthrow a government in power?
I support covert security agencies fully. If it weren't for them this world would be a warzone and flying on a plane won't be very pleasant
Only those who have things to hide will be bothered by this.
[b]let me ask you this, is it legal for an NON GOV'T agency that is operated without gov't authority and supporting laws[/b], to spy on the Prime Minister of our Country, the lawyers, judges and private citizens and give the information produced to "unknown recipients"??
you really believe this is a good thing??
SUPAstarr wrote:Bezman wrote:pioneer wrote:Welcome to the modern world, it's done in MANY countries world wide. It's called National Security.
You preferred if terrorists were able to plot n overthrow a government in power?
I support covert security agencies fully. If it weren't for them this world would be a warzone and flying on a plane won't be very pleasant
Only those who have things to hide will be bothered by this.
[b]let me ask you this, is it legal for an NON GOV'T agency that is operated without gov't authority and supporting laws[/b], to spy on the Prime Minister of our Country, the lawyers, judges and private citizens and give the information produced to "unknown recipients"??
you really believe this is a good thing??
It was in response to the 1990 security failings connected with the coup attempt that the SSA had been enacted by Parliament in 1995. Under the SSA Act, President Max Richards yesterday signed the order revoking the appointment of Clement.
On April 1, the Patrick Manning Cabinet had appointed Clement, a former Coast Guard officer, the director of both the SSA and the lesser-known SIA. Government documents showed a July 2009 Cabinet decision to amalgamate the SSA, the SIA and the Police Special Branch into a single unit.
i would say that its a government agency supported by legislation since 1995
I agree that this is something needed, but the way it has been setup, and run by the previous admin is extremely illegal and warrants a full investigation (insert typical response here)
Humes wrote:Hmmmmm
Snags wrote:loool, the bigger problem is if nobody goes to jail for this.
eliteauto wrote:pugboy wrote:anybody gonna get lockup for this ?
It wasn't illegal
eliteauto wrote:So what? This is a normal part of National Security since 1990, you think this did not exist under the UNC Govt? Just another smoking gun for followers to use to distract from real national issues, this Gov't continues to compromise the security of this country for political milage, I thought elections done, so why are they still campaigning? Seems the "parasitic oligarchy" is demanding their pound of flesh so "imports" can increase
Aaron 2NR wrote:Snags wrote:loool, the bigger problem is if nobody goes to jail for this.eliteauto wrote:pugboy wrote:anybody gonna get lockup for this ?
It wasn't illegal
zoom rader wrote:eliteauto wrote:So what? This is a normal part of National Security since 1990, you think this did not exist under the UNC Govt? Just another smoking gun for followers to use to distract from real national issues, this Gov't continues to compromise the security of this country for political milage, I thought elections done, so why are they still campaigning? Seems the "parasitic oligarchy" is demanding their pound of flesh so "imports" can increase
So what? u say.
You are so dense. I told u all before the PNM operated on the same lines of the as Gestapo in Nazi germany under Heinrich Himmler.The PNM had other motives to control the population by tapping Phone calls. You call this a smoking gun that Pratrick Manning had a secret Police force that have files certain people.
Look boy get real and stop thinking in the PNM box.
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