AG promises to arrest HArt if necessary to bring him to trial in T&T

File: Calder Hart

Anand Ramlogan told the Guardian newspaper on Saturday authorities would ensure that Calder Hart is "hunted down and arrested" if the former executive chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (UDeCOTT) does not return to Trinidad for criminal and civil matters currently before the courts.

"Mr Hart has in fact been located and has been communicating through his lawyers, and at the appropriate time, will have to come to testify and be cross-examined in court,” Ramlogan told the Sunday Guardian.  
Hart's matter is supposed to come up "by this week or next week" the Guardian quoted the Attorney General as saying. Hart currently lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

Hart is facing one claim by the State for $500 million for the mismanagement of the unfinished Taruba stadium. The report of the Uff Commission of Enquiry recommended that police investigate Hart for allegedly misspending billions of dollars in UDeCOTT projects.

Former UDeCOTT deputy chairman Krishna Bahadoorsingh, former financial manager Ricardo O’Brien and former corporate secretary Neelanda Rampaul are also defendants in the case against Hart.

Ramlogan said Hart has indicated through his legal team that “he is available and will not evade the jurisdiction of court and will submit himself for cross-examination when the trial begins”.

Ramlogan could not give a timeline for the legal matter, explaining that it is up to a judge to set a trial date.

"But I made a plea to the judiciary to treat these matters with the urgency they deserve because they involve serious allegations of misuse and corruption of public funds,” Ramlogan told the paper. “My only worry is that the judicial process is very slow. This matter should be given priority.”

Ramlogan said if Hart fails to come back for the trial "we will invoke the procedures to compel him to present himself before the court, including asking for his arrest if necessary, but that is academic because thus far he has been communicating through his legal team."