Did somebody lie?

The truth usually becomes the first casualty in the rough and tumble of politics. But when the issue involves billions of dollars in a small nation like Trinidad and Tobago it is time to get worried.

I am talking about the reports I am reading daily in the Trinidad and Tobago papers about the crisis that is facing the CL Financial empire and Lawrence Duprey.

When Duprey went public with his troubles on January 30th, 2009 with the country's finance minister and governor of the central bank at his side, the nation was hearing for the first time that there was a crisis of enormous proportions.

Government officials feigned ignorance of the depth of the problem other than the rumours that were in the public domain. "We didn't know!" they cried. And while it seemed a little incredulous that the government was stepping on a financial landmine without any kind of prior knowledge of the matter, the public was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I was never convinced, but I had no choice but to take them at their word for lack of evidence to the contrary.

Now the evidence is in public. And it has come from a top government man - Colm Imbert, leader of government business in the House.

According to the Trinidad Express, when the financial bailout bills went to committee Wednesday Imbert told members that the government was aware of CL's problems since 2008 -
April, 2008 to be exact.

But wait a minute! Didn't the finance minister, Nunez-Tesheira, tell the Parliament that she had no knowledge of the situation prior to January 14 this year? And didn't she say she just heard "rumours" of the problem? And that she took her money out because it was no big deal and that she was just conducting her business like any average citizen?

And now a cabinet colleague is contradicting her.

Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who had alleged that the minister and the central bank governor had acted on "inside information" and pulled their money out of the CL bank, didn't believe what she was hearing.

"As of April 2008, did Government officials, whether out of the Central Bank or wherever, would have advised CLICO that they were in excess of limits for statutory funds and, therefore, the statutory fund was deficient as of April 2008?" she asked Imbert.

Remember the central bank governor, Ewart Williams, had also said he didn't know and when he took his money out of the CL bank in December he was just conducting normal business without being privy to information of money troubles at the nation's biggest conglomerate.

Imbert confirmed there was prior knowledge. "As I said before, we were advised in April that effective December, they would have to remove the assets." WE, meaning the government of Trinidad and Tobago.

Kamla: "Effective when, I'm sorry?"

So who lied?

At the beginning of the Parliament sitting Wednesday Nunez-Tesheira again categorically denied that she knew of this information.

"Let me say to the national community that as Minister of Finance, I was only made aware of the level and extent of the state of affairs of CLICO Investment Bank on Wednesday, January 14, 2009, when the Governor of the Central Bank, as regulator, brought this matter to my attention.

"Prior to January 14 of this year, I can truthfully state that I had no personal information, formal or informal information, about the extent of the difficulties that CLICO Investment Bank has found itself in, other than the information known to and available to any other citizen of Trinidad and Tobago."

She said like any other citizen, she tended to her personal affairs and removed her money CIB and CMMB.

So what's wrong with this picture?

It is clear that something of this magnitude could not happen overnight. That's not rocket science. The lady is the minister of finance. So how is it that Imbert, who is the works minister, knew about it and the finance minister didn't?

Kamla found all of that very instructive in light of statements made by the honourable Minister of Finance with respect to the time frame she dealt with her assets, and when her family dealt with it."

I agree.

And Kamla, as a responsible representative of the people must now make sure this matter doesn't get swept under the carpet the moment the media decide that it needs another headline and move on to other stories.

Somebody lied! And perhaps somebody acted on privileged information, or as Kamla said, "insider trading". That's a serious matter. People go to jail for things like that. And somebody should be held accountable.