Massive fraud and corruption at UDeCOTT: AG Ramlogan

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan told reporters in Port of spain Thursday substantial evidence has been unearthed "to support and substantiate the allegations of massive fraud and corruption at UDeCOTT".

He said the authorities are "putting the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle together and we are working feverishly, around the clock."

He added, "There are mutual assistance legal treaty provisions which have to be invoked, there are tracing of funds that are taking us to different parts of the world, it is bound to take some time and have it done properly.

"But rest assured my Ministry is committed to getting to the very bottom of the UDeCOTT scandal and at the end of the day, it is nothing else but a prelude to criminal charges and criminal prosecution."

The Attorney General said the investigation into possible perjury by former UDeCOTT executive chairman Calder Hart is "coming to the finish line very quickly".

He noted that there is absolutely no doubt that the two directors and shareholders of CH Development Limited were Hart’s brother-in-law and his wife’s Sherinne’s brother-in-law.

The company was three weeks old when it won a $368 million contract from UDeCOTT. It was bought over by Sunway and subsequently got another $400 million UDeCOTT contract to outfit the Ministry of Legal Affairs Towers in Port of Spain.

However Ramlogan said what is still needed is to prove that Hart knew the family connection.

"Even though the link has been established and the familial ties have been established, what we are trying to prove now in the investigation, as I understand it, is that Mr Calder Hart knew for a fact that it was his brother-in-law," he said.

Ramlogan said the documents about the authenticity of birth and marriage certificates were sent to the T&T government written in Malay and must be translated.

"We need to have someone who is a qualified translator who could stand up in court. We solicited the advice of the Foreign Office in Great Britain and we have since made arrangements for that to happen".

On the question of if Hart knew the men, Ramlogan appealed for help.

"If any member of the media has any contacts in Malaysia and can prove that they met, knew each other, attended a wedding ceremony, a funeral together I would be most obliged and happy to receive that information to assist the police,’ he said.