Emails are fake, Express newspaper reports

File: Stephen Williams - "They are fake".

The Express newspaper reported on Monday that e-mails read in Parliament on May 20 by the leader of the opposition are fake.

The paper attributed that conclusion to acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams and quoted Williams.

"Those documents are purporting to be e-mails but they are not. They are fake,” the Express quoted the acting commissioner as saying.

Keith Rowley read the 31 emails in Parliament in which he alleged that there was a conspiracy involving Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, Senior cabinet minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan and National Security Adviser Gary Griffith.

The PM immediately referred the matter to the police for an investigation.

“But do those documents read by the Opposition Leader represent the content of e-mails or exchanges? That is what the police is looking into,” the paper quoted the acting commissioner as saying.

"There is no established criminal offence. A probe into the content of the e-mails should help us determine what offences, if any, were committed. If there was an offence, no probe would have been necessary and the police would have acted,” he explained.

Williams said the Police Service, not the Integrity Commission (IC), is only legal authority to conduct such an investigation. Rowley has demanded  have conducted such a probe was the Police Service and not the Integrity Commission. 

The Express quoted Williams as saying that the IC can refer matters to the police for investigation. In addition the paper said Williams said it was "foolish" to suggest that a foreign entity could have conducted an independent investigation on emails independent of the police service.

“That suggestion is so foolish and it’s coming from people who are supposed to be intelligent. I repeat, the only legal authority to investigate this matter is the TTPS,” said Williams.

He also told the Express that he is not a member of the National Security Council, which is chaired by the PM, and added that he attends meetings to brief the council. He also dismissed suggestions that he could be considered partisan to the government.