There must be transparency, fairness and integrity in the 2023 Local Government Elections, and the United National Congress (UNC) maintains that international election observers are needed to scrutinize the poll on 14th August 2023. This from Leader of the Opposition, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP.

In a Media Release today (Friday 30th June 2023), she said, “As Political Leader of the UNC and Leader of the Opposition, I have written to the Secretaries-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and CARICOM asking both organizations to send observer teams to Trinidad and Tobago to monitor the Local Government Elections. Elections are a cornerstone of our democratic process and must be free and fair, and free from fear. Given that the PNM and EBC have a history of questionable behaviour in elections in Trinidad and Tobago, the UNC is of the firm view that election observers are needed to scrutinize the process, and serve as a check-and-balance mechanism. The presence of observers will also boost public confidence and trust in the process.”

The Opposition Leader added, “These Local Government Elections are important and must reflect the will of the people. Given the PNM Government’s refusal to invite observers, I appealed directly to CARICOM and the CPA to send observers to ensure that the upcoming Local Government Elections on 14 August, 2023 are free, fair and free from fear.”

[Source: UNC]

Forfeiture proceedings commenced against three (3) suspects after Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Roger Gaspard SC, concluded that there was sufficient evidence to proceed, under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act.

According to Police reports, on 9th and 11th June 2021, a joint operation was conducted by members of the Financial Investigations Branch (FIB) and the Customs and Excise Division, where the Officers searched the premises of Varune Arjoon, Shelly Ann Ramlochan and Vedesh Maharaj at Ghandi Village, Debe. During the searches, a large quantity of cash totalling $2,146,103 TT currency, $58,194 US currency, $1,265 Canadian currency and $245 EC currency was found, along with a large quantity of un-customed alcohol and a quantity of pepper spray (47 cans) at various locations within the house. A Taser and two (2) firearms with twenty-eight (28) rounds of nine-millimetre ammunition were also found in a vehicle, along with a quantity of the cash.

Shelly Ann Ramlochan was charged with possession of firearms for the purpose of trafficking, possession of ammunition and possession of a prohibited weapon (Taser) on 13th June 2021 by PC Woodley of the FIB.

Vedesh Maharaj was charged with possession of prohibited weapons for the purpose of trafficking in relation to the pepper spray on 13th June 2021 by PC Woodley of the FIB.

Varune Arjoon was charged with offences relating to the un-customed goods (alcohol) by Customs Officer Jermaine Roberts in June 2021.

The total sum of cash was subsequently seized and detained in keeping with the provision of Section 38 of the Proceeds of Crime Act Chapter 11:27. Further to the charges being laid, a financial investigation was subsequently conducted in relation to the cash seized.

The file was submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), where the DPP found sufficient evidence to commence forfeiture proceedings against the aforementioned suspects in relation to the total sum of cash seized. Two (2) forfeiture applications were filed on 9th and 14th June 2023, respectively, representing the total sum. The matter is currently before the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court.

The financial investigation was conducted by Sgt. Samuel of the FIB and overseen by ACP Wendell Lucas of the White Collar Crime Division.

The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS) has issued an Adverse Weather Alert (Yellow Level) for a total of seventeen (17) hours. The Alert begins at 10:00 PM tonight (Friday 30th June 2023) and will remain in effect until 3:00 PM on Saturday (1st July 2023) for Trinidad and Tobago, including offshore areas.

According to the Met Office, there is a high (70%) chance of thunderstorms overnight due to the passage of a low level trough embedded in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). These thunderstorms are capable of producing gusty winds in excess of 55 Km/h which can lead to fallen trees, displace unsecured items and further agitate seas. Street/flash flooding and localized ponding are also likely in heavy downpours.

Instructions:

• Do not wade or drive through flood waters.
• Secure loose outdoor items and livestock.
• Persons are advised to monitor weather conditions and river levels.

Please continue to pay attention to the latest forecasts, alerts, and information issued by the TTMS.

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

The body of a man was found in Point Fortin on Wednesday morning (28th June 2023). The deceased has not yet been positively identified.

According to reports, residents of McKenzie Village observed the body lying on the ground around 9:00 AM, with apparent wounds to the head.

Police were notified and a team of Officers, led by Insp. Ousman, ASP Matura, and Sgt. Jones, responded to the scene.

The deceased is said to be a man of African descent, dark complexion, slim-built with short hair and a round face, approximately in his early 20’s and clad in a red sleeveless t-shirt and black boxer shorts.

Once identified, a post-mortem will be performed to confirm the cause of death.

PC Ramsoobag is continuing investigations.

More on this as it becomes available.

​[Source: Loop]

According to the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS), a trough embedded in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), is just to the East of Trinidad and Tobago. Its axis is expected to reach us late tonight (Friday 30th June 2023) into early tomorrow morning. The leading edge of the associated weather will begin to affect Trinidad and Tobago from as early as this afternoon. Cloudy conditions with periods of showers or rain and a high probability for thunderstorm activity are forecast for tonight into tomorrow. With the thunderstorm activity, there is a high potential for strong wind gusts, flooding, landslips or landslides, and lightning discharges.

The Met Office is also monitoring another wave of weather, the axis of which is estimated to reach us late Monday night (3rd July 2023) or early Tuesday morning. Following that, another wave of weather is analyzed to reach Trinidad and Tobago during the early morning of Friday 7th July 2023. Between the passages of these waves, the ITCZ will also, at times, be active in our area.

Over the next week, the atmosphere will remain with a relatively high moisture content, and we can expect conditions to be partly cloudy to cloudy at times, producing some light to moderate showers or rain, with some fair periods in between.

The Met Office notes that the probability for thunderstorm development will be mostly medium to high. With thunderstorm activity, there is always the potential for strong wind gusts, flooding, landslips or landslides, and lightning discharges.

Please continue to pay attention to the latest forecasts, alerts, and information issued by the TTMS.

The Ministry of Works and Transport is advising the public that there will be a temporary traffic disruption along the Endeavour Connector Road, between the Endeavour Roundabout to the Overpass. This disruption will take place from Friday 30th June 2023 and is expected to be completed on Friday 8th September 2023. The Ministry said this has become necessary to facilitate the construction of a Lay-by and associated works.

Hours of Work

• Concrete Works: 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• Road Works: 8:00 PM to 4:00 AM

Considering the above, motorists are advised to comply with the following:

• Proceed with caution and observe all directional signs and barriers.
• Comply with instructions from Police Officers on-site to facilitate a safe and orderly flow of traffic.
• Be aware of heavy equipment entering and exiting the site.
• Drive with caution on all milled (possibly uneven) surfaces.
• Drive at a reduced speed on approaching the work zone.

​The Ministry said it regrets any inconvenience caused and thanks the public for its continued co-operation. For further information, please visit the Ministry’s website (www.mowt.gov.tt) or call the PURE Unit at 638-2350, 638-2256 or 675-4052.

Two (2) men were killed during a shooting incident in Pleasantville, San Fernando, last night (Wednesday 28th June 2023). The deceased have been identified as 30-year-old Kevon Andrews and 31-year-old Christian Lindsey, both of Building C, Orchid Gardens, Pleasantville.

According to reports, Andrews and Lindsey were seen liming in the corridor on the first floor of Building C around 7:21 PM, when several loud explosions were heard. The two (2) men were then observed trying to flee the scene. Lindsey was said to have jumped over a nearby railing, falling fifteen (15) feet to the ground.

Police were told an armed suspect was observed fleeing the scene.

Residents of the area notified Police and Emergency Health Services and a team of Officers, led by Insp. Maharaj and Cpl. Griffith, responded. However, both men succumbed to their injuries.

Investigators found thirteen (13) spent 9mm casings at the scene of the double murder.

W/Cpl. Callender is continuing inquiries.

More on this as it becomes available.

​[Source: Loop]

A Ghanian man was detained by Immigration Division Officials, after appearing in Court this week, charged with three (3) counts of forgery. This is the second Ghanaian man to be charged for forgery this week.

According to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), Frank Asare, 46, of Diego Martin Main Road, was charged with one (1) count of possession of a forged document and two (2) counts of uttering a forged document, when he appeared in the Port-of-Spain 1st Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (27th June 2023).

The matter was adjourned to 26th July 2023.

It is alleged that in November 2022, a man visited the Immigration Office, Knox Street, San Fernando, and had in his possession a forged Citizenship of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Certificate of Registration, dated 10th May 2022, in favour of Frank Asare, purportedly issued by the Ministry of National Security.

Also on Tuesday 1st November 2022, the defendant presented to the Ministry of National Security, Immigration Office, San Fernando, the said Citizenship of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Certificate, dated 10th May 2022, in support of an application for a Trinidad and Tobago Passport. However, it was later discovered that the Citizenship of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Certificate of Registration, dated 10th May 2022, purportedly issued by the Ministry of National Security, was a forged document.

Further, on 5th August 2022, the defendant presented to the Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC), Diego Martin Registration Area Office, the Citizenship of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Certificate, dated 10th May 2022, in support of an application for a Trinidad and Tobago Identification Card. However, it was later discovered that the said Citizenship of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Certificate of Registration, dated 10th May 2022, was a forged document.

Extensive enquiries were conducted during the period May to June 2023 by a party of Officers, led by Ag. Assistant Superintendent Bryon Daniel and included WP Inspector Mc Millan-Mohammed, Sgt. Codrington, Cpls. Emrith, Ramkumar, Ramberran and Pitt, PCs Edwards, Noel and Subran.

A search warrant was later executed at the home of the accused where several documents were found and seized. The accused was then arrested.

Asare was charged by PC Noel Garcia with the three (3) offences on Monday (26th June 2023).

Investigations were supervised by Snr. Supt. Andy Teewarie and Supt. Wayne Abbott, also of the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB).

Meanwhile, the other Ghanaian man was given bail in the sum of $75,000, with a surety, when he appeared at the Chaguanas Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (27th June, 2023). Emmanuel Ankukumah Asamoah, 43, of Montrose, Chaguanas, was charged with possession of a forged document and uttering a forged document by Officers of the ACIB. As part of the bail conditions, the accused is to report to a specified Police Station once per week.

According to Police reports, on 26th April 2023, a Ghanaian allegedly presented to the Immigration Department, Gaston Court, Chaguanas, a Citizenship of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Certificate in favour of himself, in support of his application for a Trinidad and Tobago Passport. The department accepted the Citizenship of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Certificate as genuine, however, upon verification with the Ministry of National Security, it was allegedly discovered to be forged. A report was made to the ACIB for investigation.

Extensive enquiries were conducted during the period 18th May and 23rd June 2023, which led to the arrest of the accused and execution of a search warrant at his home, where several documents were found and seized. On Monday (26th June 2023), the accused was charged by PC Legall of the ACIB.

The investigation was supervised by Snr. Superintendent Andy Teewarie, led by Assistant Superintendent of Police Bryon Daniel, Inspectors Veneta Weaver-Ali, Terrance Dick, Legal Officer and included Sgt. Davidson, Sgt. Codrington, W/Cpl. Brown, PC Legall, PC Arthur, PC Ragoonanan, and WPC George-Thomas.

The accused is due to re-appear in Court on 25th July 2023.

A man was killed in an accident early this morning (Thursday 29th June 2023) in Bamboo #2, when his silver Toyota panel van (TDS 5249) crashed into a parked shipping container on the side of the road. The fatal crash occurred in front of Bobby’s Motor Supplies along Bamboo Main Road around 3:53 AM. The deceased has been identified as 29-year-old Brandon Khan, a businessman of Temple Street, Bamboo #2.

Aside from speed being a factor, there is said to be a deep pothole just meters before the scene of the accident, which may have contributed in some way to the driver losing control of his vehicle, which then veered right and crashed into the parked container.

There is also some debate about the legality of the container occupying a part of the shoulder.

Watch a pair of videos from the scene below, courtesy of Inshan Ishmael.

The force of the impact was said to have crumpled the front and right side of the vehicle. Khan sustained significant injuries and died at the scene.

Residents of the area notified Police, and Officers from the St. Joseph Police Station responded.

Speaking with the Express, a resident identified only as ‘Tony,’ said, “I don’t know if he fell asleep behind the wheel or what. But I saw the [CCTV footage] of the accident, and it looked like he just drove straight into the trailer without attempting to stop.“ He added, “And the man was just two minutes away from home. I know that his family is taking this hard. Because he was always just a jovial fella who would always speak his mind.”

This incident has pushed the total number of fatal road traffic accidents to fifty (50) for the year so far. The comparative toll for the same period last year was forty-eight (48).

This is a developing story - refresh this page for updates.

[Source: Trinidad Express]

A for­mer RBC Roy­al Bank (T&T) Lim­it­ed em­ploy­ee has been Court-or­dered to pay al­most $800,000 in com­pen­sa­tion to a cus­tomer, who claimed the for­mer em­ploy­ee used her po­si­tion to de­fraud her.

The former employee, identified as Lean­na Pereira, was ordered by High Court Judge Frank Seep­er­sad on Wednes­day (28th June 2023), to pay the com­pen­sa­tion to La Ro­main res­i­dent Dilks Pierre as he up­held Pierre’s fraud and fraud­u­lent mis­rep­re­sen­ta­tion case against her.

Pierre was said to be ini­tial­ly seek­ing to hold RBC bank vic­ar­i­ous­ly li­able and neg­li­gent over Pereira’s al­leged con­duct, but chose to with­draw that as­pect of her law­suit as it was set to go on tri­al be­fore Jus­tice Seep­er­sad on Wednesday. Pereira was or­dered to pay $90,000 in le­gal costs to RBC for the dis­con­tin­ued case.

As Pereira did not file any ev­i­dence in the case and was not rep­re­sent­ed by an At­tor­ney, Jus­tice Seep­er­sad grant­ed a de­fault judg­ment against her, af­ter ver­i­fy­ing the va­lid­i­ty of Pierre’s claims.

Ac­cord­ing to Pierre‘s Court fil­ings, in Sep­tem­ber 2018, the victim claimed she met an in­mate at the East­ern Cor­rec­tion­al and Re­ha­bil­i­ta­tion Cen­tre, San­ta Rosa, while vis­it­ing the lo­ca­tion with a mem­ber of her church. She claimed that she be­gan a friend­ship with the in­mate, who re­quest­ed her as­sis­tance in con­tact­ing a pur­port­ed At­tor­ney, based in the Unit­ed States, to fa­cil­i­tate the trans­fer of the pro­ceeds of the sale of a par­cel of land.

Pierre claimed that she as­sist­ed the in­mate and formed a friend­ship with the pur­port­ed At­tor­ney, who of­fered his as­sis­tance to her with fi­nan­cial in­vest­ments. She alleged that the pur­port­ed At­tor­ney then in­tro­duced her to Pereira, who at the time was employed by RBC. Pierre further claimed that in ear­ly 2019, she be­gan mak­ing pay­ments to Pereira for in­vest­ment.

Upon realizing that she had been de­fraud­ed, af­ter Pereira al­leged­ly gave her sus­pi­cious state­ments us­ing the bank’s let­ter­head, she re­port­ed the matter to RBC and the Po­lice.

Jus­tice Seep­er­sad ques­tioned the in­ac­tion by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) in re­la­tion to Pierre’s re­port. “This de­fen­dant [Pereira] had a work his­to­ry with a fi­nan­cial in­sti­tu­tion. She is not a mys­te­ri­ous in­di­vid­ual. Her iden­ti­ty is known,” he said. “There seems to be an abysmal fail­ure by the TTPS to dis­charge its man­date to pro­tect and serve and sad­ly there ap­pears to be a dis­turb­ing sit­u­a­tion of se­lec­tive en­force­ment,” he added.

As part of his de­ci­sion, Jus­tice Seep­er­sad di­rect­ed that a tran­script of the pro­ceed­ings be sent to the Of­fice of the Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice.

He en­cour­aged cit­i­zens to ex­er­cise ex­treme vig­i­lance to pro­tect them­selves and their as­sets. “Take noth­ing for grant­ed and ver­i­fy all in­for­ma­tion be­fore any in­vest­ment or re­al es­tate trans­ac­tion is pur­sued,” he said.

Pierre was rep­re­sent­ed by Cedric Nep­tune, Auldric Nep­tune, and Col­in Cleghorn, while RBC was rep­re­sent­ed by Ke­ston Mc­Quilkin and An­drea Orie.

[Source: T&T Guardian]