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MONEY TALKS: All Sport Promotions finance director Bruce Aanensen, left, discusses the contents of a document with Anthony Harford, manager of All Sport and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) marketing, right, at a press conference at the President's Box, Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain yesterday. —Photo: Stephen DoobayAll Sport Promotions financial director Bruce Aanensen defended the reputation of his company and the integrity of his colleague Anthony Harford, in a press conference today at the Queen’s Park Oval, and has added to concerns that Sport Minister Anil Roberts might have willfully deceived the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament.

Aanensen, a former chairman at the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago and the present Queen’s Park Cricket Club president, suggested that Roberts made allegations against Harford and All Sports while he knew—or reasonably ought to have known—that they were untrue.

Roberts told Parliament on 5 October 2012, during the Budget debate, that Harford improperly paid All Sport $936,250 and was unable to account for roughly $5.5 million of taxpayers’ money, which was meant to fund Trinidad and Tobago’s World Cup 2014 campaign.

However, Aanensen said Roberts selectively copied and pasted from two accounting statements to enact what he described as a scathing and unjust assault on the character of Harford and All Sport.

Roberts told Parliament that Harford only accounted for $5,611,933.25 from $11 million in his statement of income and expenditure on the 2014 World Cup campaign. The Sport Minister’s Permanent Secretary, Ashwin Creed, had put the same accusation to Harford in writing on 12 September 2012.

Harford replied to Creed on 19 September 2012, two weeks before Roberts’ Parliamentary attack, and informed the Permanent Secretary that he had quoted from an interim statement given to the Ministry on 13 October 2011. He said that the Sport Ministry got the final statement of expenditure on 16 January 2012, which fully accounted for the entire $11 million plus gates and other sponsorship deals.

Interim Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) president Lennox Watson vouched for the accuracy of Harford’s assertion and Aanensen echoed his claim.

Even though the Sport Ministry had Harford’s explanation, he delivered his attack anyway without seeking further clarification from the All Sport director.

Aanensen was especially suspicious of one point raised by Roberts.

“During the attack in Parliament on Mr. Harford and All Sport Promotions, the Minister raised the questions of improper payments made to All Sport,” said Aanensen.

“The curious thing about his utterances, while holding up the interim statement and alleging that the Ministry has only received accounts explaining expenditure of  TT$5,611,983.25 which is the total expenditure to October 31st 2011, is that he very eloquently stated that Harford paid to himself TT$936,125.00. 

“This figure was only included in the final accounts. How could he have known this amount without having received the final accounts?”

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