Jack Warner: Trinidad's Corrupt Disgrace

Ordinarily, Cartel Watch wouldn't recommend a "men's mag" to our refined readers - but of course we make an exception for the fine work of the indispensable Andrew Jennings.

In the March issue of FHM, Mr Jennings fires another volley of artillery directly into the heart of the enemy lines. And what a fine shot he is!

Read as much of Mr. Jennings' work as you can, dear reader, and you will learn just how crooked Jack Warner and his FIFA cronies are.



For reasons still lost on us, Jack Warner - a.k.a. the Colossus of Cartel, Jack in the Bucks, FIFA Tief, Daddy Warbucks, Slippery Pete - gets a free pass from the media in Trinidad and Tobago. But Cartel Watch will always provide a window into his world-wide mischief.

At present Trinidad and Tobago is one of the only governments in the Americas/Caribbean (and possibly in the world) that will stand up to Warner. So, the Colossus is now hard at work to put his puppet Kamla in the seat of power.

Warner and Kamla - two political neophytes with unlimited funds will make for an interesting election season. With a compliant cartel media supporting the whole effort, Mr Manning has quite a battle ahead of him.

Cartel Watch remains staunchly independent, but we will provide ongoing election coverage as we seek to expose the illegal activities, the illicit behaviour and the ill-fitting pants of corrupt power players in Trinidad and Tobago.

Veritas liberabit vos!

More Rowley – Just for once can you tell us the truth and your real interest

Cartel Watch has had Rowley on the brain lately. But who could blame us? Dr. Keith Rowley still lands in and among the screaming headlines of our newspapers on a daily basis. (Ask us sometime for our opinion on screaming headlines.)

Today, we wonder: if UDeCOTT and the entire construction contracting system is to be condemned for years of naughty behavior, wasn't Dr. Keith Rowley Minister (4 posts) during much of the period in question? As the Line Minister responsible for HDC, is it really likely he was unaware of the hanky panky going on in the Housing programs? Legend has it that he orchestrated many of the shady deals himself.

Don't forget all the other government contracting irregularities, including all the allegations against UDeCOTT, NHIC and Warner and related companies/projects. What kind of Minister and leader was he? Out to lunch with his "good friend" Emile Elias? Asleep at his La Horquetta apartment? Or did he have his hand in the public purse like all the rest now being accused?

Suddenly Rowley becomes the only honest man in T&T, following all his years of handing out billions in contracts to a construction cartel repeatedly identified as riddled with routine corruption and incompetence. The problems that are alleged to have been systemic and systematic certainly existed during Rowley's Ministerial terms. It doesn't seem possible that allegations should only be leveled against the Brian Lara Stadium and the MLA tower projects. We should be equally concerned about all previous awards, contracts and projects, so lets get at the real root of the issue: Who won most of the contracts under Rowley's tenure? Those parties should be investigated along with Rowley's specific involvement in the awarding of contracts. This is especially important now, in light of the allegations of an illegal Rowley Family bank account in the Caymans which had almost 6 million U.S. dollars pass through it since 2007.

One may wonder: what is the point of re-opening such issues as the many corrupt contracts awarded 5 and 10 years ago?

Because, dear readers, those who profited from such illegal and unethical cartel activities are now placing themselves to take even higher positions of government authority, and win the next round of contracts and elections. We cannot afford to allow those foxes to guard the chicken coops AGAIN without first making sure they are as clean as a new toothbrush.

Otherwise, Trinidad and Tobago will be doomed to yet another cycle of the same contracting corruption the UFF report has only addressed IN PART. Instituting good procedures will help, but not if the same old crooks are recycled back into the same authority they abused previously

Let's see a real accounting of what the Rowleys have in which bank accounts before giving Dr. Keith a vindication and clean bill, though. If the truth is aired, he won't be given another shot at the public purse.

Cartel Watch is pleased that the Attorney General has called for a Forensic investigation into the Cleaver Heights project, the lack of Rowley’s oversight and mismanagement, awarding of a $150 million dollar project to Rowley's buddy Elias and NHIC and the missing $10 million dollars in funds. We insist that while they are investigating this matter they should look into the allegations of the Rowley Cayman account, their Trinidad-based First Citizens accounts and their alleged purchase of bonds.

Playing The Political Game at The Expense of Justice

Attorney General John Jeremie believes that we should investigate the accuser before we investigate the accused.

AG Jeremie has made it clear that whomever made the allegation against Dr Keith Rowley is more important than the truth of the case. If someone he does not like or trust has made an allegation, he is allowed to ignore it because of the source.

Cartel Watch is more than willing to stand up to the Attorney General and remind him of his sworn duty. It is John Jeremie's job to investigate ALL serious allegations of corruption, regardless of source. Cartel Watch finds it much too hard to believe that an AG could make such a vapid statement in a day and age when new investigations are flying in our faces every day. If you'll notice, most every investigation in the last 10 years came from leaked information from one aggrieved party against another. Imagine that!

Tell us, Mr Jeremie - you can not investigate a claim unless it is a "friend" who leaks such allegations and not an enemy? WHAT?

What matters is not who alleged the crime but whether it is actually a crime! Jeremie and the DPP and the Police and the ACIB and the Commissions and the Association of Artistes and the Anti-Canadian League can chase old "blue eyes" Calder Hart all over the world because his fax was used by a private company... or his wife had relatives involved in a company that won a UDeCOTT contract... on and on... but allegations of a former Minister skimming our billions in the very same contracts can not be investigated when even more damning evidence is exposed? Simply because AG Jeremie doesn't like the source of the leak?

Sure, Trinidad and Tobago is a small island. And we don't claim to be the most sophisticated country in the world, but this is simply idiotic.

AG Jeremie had better get one thing straight: protecting Keith Rowley "just in case" is not as smart a political move as he thinks it is. Playing the political game at the expense of Justice will come back around to bite him. If the UNC wins power, Mr Jeremie may find himself catching a last-minute flight to Florida too.

Dr. Keith Rowley and His Wife, Politically Exposed Persons?

International banking standards require financial institutions to be particularly careful when dealing with persons in position of power who could have access to ill-gotten funds. These Politically Exposed Persons are public officials whose duties or powers put them in position for potential corruption.

As you might expect, Dr Keith Rowley is a Politically Exposed Person (PEP) because of his MP and Cabinet Minister positions in Trinidad and Tobago. PEP designations also apply to the family (Sharon Rowley) and close associates (Emile Elias) of such an official.

It's not a "bad" thing to be designated PEP. But it does mean there are certain risks associated.

For more information, see:

Global PEP List – Politically Exposed Persons

Wolfsberg FAQ's on Politically Exposed Persons

Politically Exposed Persons

Politically Exposed Persons—Overview

Politically exposed persons (PEPs): Good practice

Even off-shore banks in a tax haven like the Caymans must follow tough guidelines and stand up to international scrutiny when it comes to money laundering activity. So, these banks are required to take special measures when dealing with customers who are designated PEP.

Within the context of this required level of customer scrutiny, the Caymans enjoy some of the strictest banking secrecy laws in the world.

The Attorney General in Grand Cayman can not release any information whatsoever regarding the ownership or non-ownership of accounts for Politcally Exposed Persons. (As a matter of fact, this same rule applies to banks in Trinidad and Tobago.)

And the banks themselves can not issue the sort of information and representations Sharon Rowley has loudly claimed. The General Manager of the Alexandria Bankcorp can't acknowledge there is or is not an account, because banking law does not allow it. Serious penalties accompany these banking secrecy rules, not to mention the reputations of large financial institutions hang on the concept of privacy. Imagine if a bank reported: there is no account... there is no account... well, actually, we have no comment. That would certainly indicate there was an account, so the standard Agency Lender Disclosure legal requirement is "no comment."

The same goes for First Citizens Bank of TT. They can not release Sharon Rowley's account - only she can do that - and she certainly would not reveal it voluntarily or risk exposing all their funds and movement of their money.

Based on documents we have seen and conversations we've held, Sharon and Keith Rowley are Lying. No one in authority has said there is no Cayman account - neither Attorney General John Jeremie nor the Alexandria Bancorp in Cayman. Sharon Rowley is clearly lying, and alone in her denial, which rings hollow and suspicious. Dr Rowley has only come out to say that he personally has no account in Cayman. Well, no one has suggested that is so – it was alleged his wife does. It is merely documented that Dr Rowley is signatory to his wife's accounts, worth upward of U.S. $6,000,000, and that these accounts were not disclosed under the Integrity Act. And there seems to be enough evidence pointing in that direction to warrant an investigation.

Here we have Mrs Rowley fervently denying ownership of accounts and waving letters and statements which are flatly illegal and therefore presumably false. There we have Dr Rowley attempting to distance himself from his wife's finances, but loudly claiming that HE has no account off-shore account.

As we have explained, a Politically Exposed Person is at risk of corruption and therefore his close friends and family are suspect as well.

An investigation must be conducted in this matter, but it can only be performed by an anti-corruption commission with special subpoena powers.

If they care one speck about the people and the people's money, they will save us the time and trouble of an investigation. Dr and Mrs Rowley must open ALL their finances, and especially the First Citizens Bank accounts. The Attorney General may not have jurisdiction in the Cayman islands, but he and the Integrity Commission can surely look into the allegations of current or past accounts with First Citizens and the purchase of bonds.

They will never do it, because of the risk of being exposed. As a couple, they should be the poster children for Politically Exposed Persons who try to hide ill-gotten gains.

And as we have seen for years, the cover-up will ultimately hurt more than the crime itself.

Cartel Watch calls for Dr Rowley and his wife to come clean - or face a real investigation.