Director of FIU fully qualified for the job: Ramlogan

Susan Francois

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan told Parliament Wednesday the government of Trinidad and Tobago appointed Susan Francois as director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to save the country from being blacklisted.

"It became evident that an immediate appointment was needed or else Trinidad and Tobago could be blacklisted," Ramlogan explained as Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley accused the government of making the same mistake it did with the appointment of Reshmi Ramnarine as Director of the Security Services Agency (SSA).

Ramlogan was winding up the debate on the Financial Intelligence Unit Amendment Bill, which passed late Wednesday night.

Ramlogan said there is no comparison between the two appointments. He explained that the government merely took steps to ensure the country's "sound standing in international jurisdictions" and was emphatic that no law was broken.

He said it was the Manning PNM administration that breached the law when it appointed David West as director designate of the FIU. He said West left a mess that the People's Partnership now has to clean up.

And he went further, calling on Rowley and the People's National Movement to apologise to the people of this country for appointing West.

"They did not ask the Public Service Commission to play a role and have a hand in the appointment of David West because they fully well know that there is absolutely nothing in the legislation that requires the Public Service Commission so to do," Ramlogan said.

He said West brought the country "to the brink of the precipice" and it was through the vigilance of Finance Minister Winston Dookeran and National Security Minister John Sandy that the government took action to correct the problem.

Ramlogan explained that the ad for the position stated that the minimum qualifications and experience required were a Bachelor's degree and Master's degree in management, engineering, economics, finance or law from an accredited university.

"When we looked at the process and those who had applied and were even shortlisted and interviewed, the problem was that very few of them, including the top three, actually met the minimum requirement according to the advertisement," he said.

He added the job specs changed with the amendment of the bill to introduce a supervisory position in the FIU over listed businesses. 

"Miss Francois exceeded the requirements in the ad and she was, more importantly, suited for the supervisory jurisdiction because she was a lawyer with a Master's degree, a certified mediator. This is a person who has a track record of excellence," he said.