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.

Taking a Real Look at Rowley's Accounts

Part 2

Cartel Watch is following media reports and comments from Dr. Rowley and the Attorney General.

And regardless of actual proof, the details and specifics in the public domain are hard to deny. Someone has obviously done their homework and such details warrant an inquiry by the Integrity Commission, and more so, the details warrant a thorough forensic investigation into the Rowley's alleged illegal activities. Here is what Cartel Watch knows to date:


Apparently there are actual account numbers, phone numbers and actual dates of transactions to and from Trinidad and Tobago accounts to accounts in the Caymans. It seems there is a lot of circumstantial evidence here pointing blame and deceit on behalf of the Rowleys. And not just a few facts, there is enough information to almost end the speculation and infer guilt.


What we do know is that there is a missing 10 million dollars from the Scarborough Hospital project. A deal that involved Emile Elias and Sharon Rowley, wife of Dr. Rowley, while he was Minister of Minister of Planning, Housing and Environment. While Dr. Rowley was Minister, why was his "good friend" Emile Elias allowed to not only bid, but be awarded a contract that he had influence over - especially when his wife, who is an attorney, was a sub contractor on the project? Regardless of the technical details, the circumstances of this award are wrong. Contracts should never be awarded in such a fashion. When a Commission of Enquiry was suggested, why did it never occurr? And adding salt to the wound, the Scarborough Hospital project isn't even complete, with no date of completion in sight.

Cartel Watch wonders, when the initial reports surfaced, why the Attorney General would denounce such an account so fast without a proper forensic investigation. From our research, we understand it takes months, if not years to obtain such information from offshore banking institutions. We also wondered how the AG managed to get such definitive data in such a short time and would it have been truly impossible that such was done legally and with proper procedures.

Even the all mighty powerful Canadian and US Governments have had extensive troubles with offshore accounts. The US Government has been fighting for years with the Swiss Government and Swiss Banks seeking access to accounts of thousands of Americans who are sheltering their funds from US taxes. The AG for Cayman could NOT possibly have gone to the bank, demanded such information and released it all in the same day or two. With thousands of accounts in 261 banking and financial institutions one has to wonder. Dr. Rowley and his wife must be thankful the banks pride themselves in secrecy and will protect their mischief at all cost. Either way, the proprietors of these banks will not easily confirm or deny that accounts exist or have ever existed. The banks' livelihoods depend on such secrecy.

We urge the newly appointed Integrity Commission to initiate a full forensic investigation into Dr. Rowley and his wife's alleged offshore banking improprieties. We also urge the AG to directly contact the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force and the just recently formed Cayman Island's Anti Corruption Commission for help in these criminal allegations.

Taking a Real Look at Rowley's Accounts

Part 1

A lot of speculation has been growing over the likely existence of Dr. Keith Rowley and Sharon Riley's illegal offshore accounts in the Caymans. Doubters have threatened Cartel Watch for even speculating that such an account exists or that a forensic investigation should be held into the allegations. (Coincidentally, one of these doubters does an awful lot of conspicuous defending of Emile Elias in the blogosphere.)


At Cartel Watch, we don't think that anyone is above the law and that every allegation must be thoroughly investigated. This is why we agree with current investigation into the Calder, Sherine Hart, and Sunway affair.


As Dr. Rowley and his wife go on about their business, defensively denying that Caymans accounts exist, the debate continues to swirl. One does have to wonder, though, that if so much detailed information was reported by the media about institutions holding the alleged illegal investments, transactions, account managers and bond buys, that perhaps the allegations really are true.


While TT's record on money laundering leaves a bit to be desired, it's clear that the accounts need an independent body such as the Integrity Commission to provide a forensic investigation into such alleged mischief - maybe even the COP would take up such an investigation. There seems to be too much detailed information available for this to be a complete hoax. (Who could honestly be in a position to invent great numbers of bond purchases?)


Cartel Watch does not carry any actual proof of the accounts - only mere inside knowledge from others "in the know" and from what we read in the paper - so we can only speculate on how guilty the Rowleys might be. Regardless, we believe there should be a lot more discussion and analysis of this topic, as it is sure to foster debate for weeks to come.

What is Elias Afraid of?

Cartel Watch reads the news of investigations every day with great interest. Whether it's UDeCOTT, Piarco, Panday, Rowley, Hart, or Elias - Cartel Watch believes that the bright light of public scrutiny is crucial to the future of TT.


That's why it's a shame that Emile Elias is trying to silence and intimidate the man charged with the forensic investigation of the Landate scandal.

This sort of behaviour is sadly typical of the wealthy and powerful cartels in TT. This childish letter ("Dear Bob...") is simultaneously a clear case of arrogant intimidation (I know where you live, Bob, and I'll prove it in the papers) and also a case of a frightened plea (Come on, Bob, just take the word of the disgraced Integrity Commission. Sure, they were dismissed, but we should still trust their investigations of little old me.)

Publicly intimidating his enemies and publicly begging for mercy. How sad that we consider this front page news, and the Guardian report says not a word about why the investigation is underway.

The original Commission of Enquiry in the matter specifically recommended a forensic investigation of the Landate scandal. The COE did not go so far as to lay guilt or blame on Elias or Rowley because that is not their role. But the Commission report damn sure called for an investigation of Grand Larceny - to the tune of TT $50,000,000.

Elias cleverly positions himself as concerned for the waste of taxpayer dollars as a result of these investigations. Really, Mr. Elias? You're accused of stealing $50 million from the people of this country and you expect us to let you go free? We will gladly pay the cost of finding the truth. The newspapers and broadcasters in this country are a perpetual motion machine fed by the purest form of energy known to media: INVESTIGATION!

Sure, they can be politically motivated or the result of a vendetta. (Sound familiar, Carl Khan?)

But at the heart (or if you're a clever newspaper editor: Hart!) of it, we seek the truth.

What ARE you afraid of, Mr Elias?


We know you have little regard for the people's money. You unapologetically absconded from Scarborough Hospital with tens of millions. So, please, don't treat us like fools.

Elias can keep a tally of the cost of investigating crooked business practices.

We tally the massive cost of allowing Emile Elias to steal from the public purse.

Elias has white-washed the public, so far, and he'll do anything to keep the money flowing his way.

Emile Elias: Corrupt. Incompetent. Bad Listener?

Well, in case you missed it, yesterday was the saddest day of poor Emile Elias' life.
Cartel Watch thinks the only reason he could possibly be sad is that he sees the end of his cartel coming nigh.

If you read the Prime Minister's quote properly or listened to it carefully - any thinking person can understand that he was not "declaring" a war, but making an analogy about the state of play in Construction vs The People of This Country.

The Construction Cartel in this country is corrupt and, relatively speaking, incompetent. They don't follow building codes. Mikey Joseph admitted this on morning radio this week. They can't build buildings over 5 storeys. They overcharge and chronically underperform.

The Government of TT - on a huge development push - shouldn't have to be held ransom by Elias and his goons just because they're the only game in town!

Bring in the competition! Bring in companies who will actually invest in their workforce! Bring in contractors who know how to properly manage a project and get. it. done.

THREE YEARS for local contractors to build a simple police station. Foreign contractors managed the NAPA project and finished it in 8 months.

The difference in performance is attributable directly to corruption and incompetence from Emile Elias and his ilk. They moan and whine and wave their arms when Government refuses to put up with it. They are so blinded by their resistance to change that they can not even hear properly. It is the Construction Cartel that has declared the war. Mr. Manning is simply pointing it out and refusing to bend to their will. Good for him.

Meanwhile, Emile Elias is near tears. Poor old guy. Maybe it's time for him to retire to the Caymans where his crooked company his based. No one could expect him to perform at his age anyhow.

If he needs something to cheer him up, we're happy to report that a competent foreign contractor is cleaning up his impossible mess at Scarborough Hospital

Rowley Fails to Learn Panday’s Lesson

On Friday, the daily papers (silly as they are) reported that a former Cabinet member is under investigation for violation of the Integrity Act.
Do you doubt that the former Minister in question is Dr. Keith Rowley? Our least favorite geologist surely felt the seismic shock waves when this one hit. He sounded like a man on fire. Cartel Watch wonders if Rowley’s famous temper led to a little “re-decorating” around the house when this story came out. Watch out for flying furniture!

Cartel Watch hopes the puzzle pieces will finally be put together: Rowley could never account for the missing $10 million from Scarborough and now we find out he and his wife have an offshore account with more than $40 million in it ( he is a signatory and benefits from it.) Wow.


How could he not learn from Basdeo Panday’s mistakes of a few years ago? If your wife has an offshore account with MILLIONS of dollars in it, you really ought to consider reporting it. Panday saw jail time for a much smaller sum in a much easier to track bank account. Could Rowley be so arrogant that he believed he could get away with something the old Lion could not?

Amazingly, Rowley has so far avoided the guillotine from the Scarborough Hospital scandal.Explain to us one more time how Emile Elias managed to charge the Government for building materials that he used at your private Landdate project? And where did that $10 million go, Keith? What a disgrace. With continued vigilance, Rowley will eventually receive his reward and the Elias Cartel will be exposed.


It appears that Rowley may not be getting off easily in the Scarborough matter, afterall, because a knight in shining armor arrived this morning: A proper police forensic investigation will reveal Rowley’s greed and corruption and we’ll finally see his golfing buddy Emile Elias exposed.


Kudos to Kamla and company for orchestrating two major exposes in two weeks. First they find “evidence” on Hart from Malaysia, and now they leak info on secret bank accounts from Rowley. Kamla will apparently stop at nothing. If that means Rowley and Elias go down, Cartel Watch can’t complain.


Rowley may learn Panday’s Integrity lesson the hard way.

Caught!

Kamla, Jack, Gopeesingh and Maharaj were caught red-handed last night enjoying the fruits of Patrick Manning's labor.

It was nice to see this gruesome foursome taking some time off from plotting the destruction of Mr Manning and anyone who gets in their way.

Well... maybe that's exactly what they were doing last night.

It's hard to tell, because when the putrid posse made their grand entrance at the Hyatt, they found no tables available at the packed outdoor bar and were funneled away to the empty dining room. Maybe they expected their subjects to rise and offer up 4 thrones??

Cartel Watch enjoyed watching their bubbles burst - and we find this significant for two main reasons:

1- the new Hyatt - second highest grossing in the region - is a resounding success and Port of Spain's #1 place to see and be seen.

2- Jack Warner might be able to buy dozens of FIFA votes and world leaders may bow at his feet , but he and his cronies can't get a table at Patrick Manning's Hyatt!

Beware of their false indignation over government development projects, my friends. Cartel Watch will continue to expose the corruption and hypocrisy of Warner and his pals.