JACK’S SMART COURT MOVES
In March 2012, in a hit-back at the court’s attempt to follow the money and compel the national football federation to bring its rogue agent Jack Warner to book, attorney Om Lalla asserted that “improper pressure” was being brought on the Federation and its executive “to coerce them into action” against his client and former de facto boss of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF).
The Lalla accusation followed half a dozen years of courtroom manoeuvres thrown up by Warner’s frontmen, Oliver Camps and Richard Groden, to dodge a volley of full-disclosure orders made by the court for the federation’s accounts. The Camps-Groden-led TTFF repeatedly failed to produce full and accurate financial records, as ordered, and disclosed instead four sets of conflicting accounts done by Warner’s accountant-in-chief, Kenny Rampersad.
It was only when they were threatened with contempt proceedings that Camps and Groden admitted to the controlling role Warner played from behind the scenes. In startling court affidavits filed last year, the two men separately pinned the entire debacle of false and misleading financial information relating to TTFF and LOC Germany 2006 Ltd—the company used as a clearing house for World Cup sponsorship money—on the man they previously described as a benefactor and the best thing to ever happen to local football.
They made clear that Warner was the mastermind behind the scenes and the man holding all the books and financial records of the national football federation and LOC Germany. The two understated the facilitating role they played in giving the self-appointed negotiating agent of LOC Germany full control of all of the federation’s World Cup sponsorship revenue—said to be about $205.6 million, of which more than $100 million is unaccounted for.
The Camps and Groden duet claimed Warner had failed to respond to their repeated requests for financial records and other banking information related to the two companies. With the threat of contempt proceedings hanging over his head and no free get-out-of-jail card in sight, the former TTFF president of more than ten years, Camps, on February 17 last year, had his newly rostered lawyer, Derek Ali, dispatch a pre-action protocol letter to Warner with a demand for an account of sponsorship and other monies related to the 2006 World Cup campaign.
His previous lawyer on record, Om Lalla, who is also Warner’s substantive local counsel, in correspondence addressed to Ali and submitted to the court, took apparent umbrage with the tone and specific nature of the Camps request.
In criticism directed at the presiding judge, Devindra Rampersad, Lalla said: “We wish to express our grave concern at what we can only describe as what appears to be improper pressure being brought on the TTFF and its executive to coerce them into action against our client.
“We have sought the opinion of Senior Counsel on this matter and, should the occasion arise, we will take the necessary steps to strenuously protect the interests of our client.” The letter noted that it was Camps who “organised the business of football through the TTFF and LOC Germany 2006”.
According to Lalla, Warner was merely one of five directors of LOC Germany. He, however, omitted to mention that LOC Germany was a Warner-Rampersad creation in which Warner’s son, Daryll, and longtime secretary, Patricia Modeste, were also directors together with Groden and Camps.
Lalla noted: “Your letter states that you are instructed that our client received monies, gifts, donations, grants and other benefits for and on behalf of the TTFF and for the benefit of the TTFF. If by this it is meant that our client was personally/beneficially in receipt in his own name of such gifts and other like donations and benefits, we are advised that your instructions are totally incorrect.”
Lalla said Warner was well known for the prominent role he played as TTFF’s special adviser in national and international football, and made clear that his client was “never personally, in his own name, in receipt of monies, gifts, donations, grants and like benefits on behalf of the TTFF either as agent or servant which were not handed over or deposited to the accounts of the TTFF and LOC Germany 2006.”
He held that: “All contributions were made directly to or in the name of the TTFF and or LOC Germany 2006.” Lalla neglected to mention the small detail of the tens of millions of public and private sector funds redirected from TTFF’s bank accounts to LOC Germany and other private Warner corporations or the fact that Warner had exclusive control of LOC.
He contended that “all monies” received on behalf of the Football Federation were either payable or made payable to TTFF and/ or LOC Germany and “not to our client in his personal capacity”.
Lalla countered that contrary to the claim of Warner being reluctant to assist the court, “we are instructed to assure you that at all times our client has given full and honest disclosure of all relevant information within his knowledge”.
Lalla argued that: “The imputation contained in your instructions that our client in some way failed to make honest and full disclosure of all of the sponsorship revenue was disappointing and deeply resented and rejected.” He said, “Nothing could be further from the truth,” and noted that Warner had re-doubled his efforts to determine if there was further information relevant to the court’s enquiry that he might have overlooked.
Lalla pointed to the audited accounts of the TTFF and a reported $15 million debt owed to Warner for cash advances made to the federation. He noted that in addition to the $15 million debt stated in TTFF’s audited accounts, Warner had been instrumental in providing leased premises to the federation, to which outstanding rent of over $1 million was owed.
Ignoring the built-in conflicts of interest related to Warner’s lease arrangements with related football bodies, the Lalla letter stated: “This is mentioned not by way of any threat of immediate action to recover these outstanding monies but to demonstrate the fact that contrary to the imputation inherent in your instructions the attitude and position of our client to yours has always been generous and not predatory.”
He also did not go into the opaque and confusing accounting picture created by the several sets of Rampersad-produced accounts and the huge and conflicting gaps between the different Rampersad-disclosed sponsorship income and the $205.6 million figure provided to Mike Townley by the previous administration.
Townley, the English lawyer for the Soca Warriors, said recently Warner and the Football Federation had shown a shameful disregard for the process of law. He declined to talk about the specific settlement numbers currently under discussion with TTFF’s new boss, Raymond Tim Kee, but was clear that: “The dispute reached a point of stalemate with the TTFF refusing consistently to provide the accounting evidence that we need to establish the players’ entitlement.”
According to him: “There have been all sorts of games played out over the past years with the intention of hiding the real figures for the revenue generated from the 2006 World Cup. TTFF initially were happy to produce accounts until we pointed out that they were manifestly false, and then they tried to blame Jack Warner for keeping all the relevant information to himself.
“He says, ‘Oh no, I gave you all that information years ago.’ We are left now with little option but to petition the court for the winding-up of TTFF so that an Insolvency Trustee can open an investigation into where the money has gone.”
Asked how this case measured up with a varied legal career which included some significant pieces of legislation, Townley told the Express: “No one has come close to this. The mendaciousness of the defendant from the outset, the determination to hide the truth, the defiance of court orders, the false-accounting coupled with the high-handed manner that suggests that it is in fact the claimants who are at fault is staggering. It is in fact Kafkaesque.”
Townley said: “Before the credibility of the TTFF and those managing it were brought to nought with all their lies they used to regularly lambaste the claimants for not respecting the sanctity of the court. They are a parody of themselves.”
He said things reached a “farcical level when we applied to join Warner to the action” and the same lawyers claimed to represent Warner and the TTFF and refused to acknowledge the obvious conflict of interest even when this was pointed out by the judge.
The roster of lawyers representing both the football federation and Warner up to last year included Dereck Balliram, British QC William McCormick and Om Lalla. Documents obtained by this newspaper show that on March 5, 2011, Lalla sent an e-mail about the previous day’s CMC’s (Case Management Conference) hearing to several persons, including clients Warner, Camps and Rampersad.
The e-mail noted in part: “The two major issues to have been determined was the time frame for the preparation of detailed accounts as per the Order. The time given is three months which is very generous given the last comments of the judge and opposition of the claimants. I request that Kenny Rampersad be immediately contacted to see if he can comply with the Order of the court as compliance will be crucial at this point.”
The e-mail urged: “Pls bear in mind the ability to successfully argue this matter depends on the ability to provide accounts requested by the judge. If at that stage we are unable to provide details of where the money was spent the judge can request tracing Orders to see where the money went. I can provide more details of what is expected or done but will prefer to do so at conference.”
The Lalla e-mail noted: “Once again the guiding factor is the accounts and the advice of Kenny and his ability to comply with the order of the court. Pls let me have your comments if you need any further clarification.”
Part VII continues on Sunday with Public Misconduct.
Related News
Case of the KPMG audit and the missing millions.
By—Camini Marajh (Express).
It appears that international auditing firm KPMG conducted three years of audited statements for the Trinidad and Tobago National Football Federation (TTFF) with eyes wide shut.
KPMG, which is listed among the world’s top five auditing firms, in audited statements for the three-year period 2005 to 2007, paid no mind to the tens of millions of public- and private-sector funds diverted from the national football federation’s bank accounts to the Jack Warner-created and -controlled entity called LOC Germany 2006.
From all accounts and by KPMG’s own admission, it treated LOC Germany as a separate legal entity despite the fact that the federation’s substantial creditor, Jack Warner, was also a director and self-appointed negotiating agent of LOC Germany.
Bank activity reports for several TTFF accounts, including the Republic Bank Westmall account, show significant tens of millions of dollars in transfers to LOC Germany. Sponsorship payments, according to internal TTFF payment vouchers seen by this reporter, were also redirected to LOC Germany. These substantial cash transfers were not disclosed in the unqualified audited financial statements produced in 2008 by KPMG.
KPMG held the view that its audit engagement related only to TTFF and “we had no basis to request or examine the accounting records of LOC Germany” despite evidence that LOC was engaged in open cash raids of TTFF’s money.
The KPMG audited statements were dismissed by lawyers for the Soca Warriors as “shoddy and totally unreliable pieces of work”. Soca Warriors lawyer Mike Townley said a principle feature of the KPMG accounts was “the startling degree to which they fail to record millions of dollars in revenue that we know the TTFF received from Government and private sector agencies”.
The combined income for the mentioned three-year period under review, according to the KPMG audit, amounted to a mere $37.1 million. The firm’s managing partner, Robert Alleyne, has refused to answer specific questions about whether KPMG sought to determine the business relationship between its client and LOC Germany, and whether it made any enquiries into the circumstances leading to Warner and LOC becoming major creditors to TTFF, among other things.
In response to the Warner debt, Alleyne said only: “We stand by our audit report which did not express any reservations about the debt.”
But documents seen by this newspaper suggest the debt was racked up in the main by so-called cash advances provided for the payment of salaries and other expenses to technical staff.
The debt to Warner continued to grow on the books of the TTFF despite significant State contributions for the specific item of salaries and technical staff expenses. There is no explanation in the audited statements for where the State contribution for the payment of salaries went. KPMG took cover behind client confidentiality.
Another financial institution caught in the maelstrom of Warner-related oversight is First Citizens. The bank has refused to give the real Bahamian-registered Concacaf access to accounts held in its name. As reported in this series, Warner used a slew of bank accounts in the names of official football bodies to which he was associated to conduct his private business. Many of these accounts were not known to officials in the various football bodies, investigations by this newspaper have revealed.
By Kevin Baldeosingh (T&T Express).
RULE #1 — Tiefing is okay if thief works hard: This is the rule expressed by the presenters and callers of Radio Jagriti, which says it is the voice of Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago. The argument of these representatives of Hinduism goes like this: 1. Warner has worked so hard as MP; 2. San Fernando East MP Patrick Manning is not representing his constituents; 3. therefore Warner should not have resigned as National Security Minister or UNC chairman.
Of course, Warner hasn’t resigned as MP, so his constituents must be bothered about something else. As Hindus, they know the Bhagavadgita says, “Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is considered to be holy because he has the right motives for his goals.” In other words, it is okay for someone to set up eight false bank accounts to siphon funds, once they use that money get the UNC into government and then give away 0.001 per cent of what they’ve taken to sycophants.
Exception: PNM crooks, since they tief without working hard.
RULE #2 — If people like you, it’s okay to tief: Having purchased love and support and tongues, a thief should then be allowed to handle UNC funds and work in the organisation since ethics in public life is irrelevant once you have boot-lickers. This is the view of UNC vice-chairman and 102FM radio talk-show host Khadijah Ameen, who says, “I don’t know to what extent he intends to remain involved in the UNC, I look forward to hearing from him because there are people who love him dearly.” Such standards may explain why Ms Ameen’s name appeared in 2011 on the list of persons who had failed to declare their assets with the Integrity Commission as required by law.
Exception: Andre Monteil and other PNM officials, since they weren’t liked by anyone except PNM hacks.
RULE #3 — Only recent tiefing is tiefing: According to UNC councillor Carol Cuffie-Dowlath, “Everything that we hear today is not new. What we have heard today has been in the public domain even before Warner became a minister.” In other words, the UNC knew for years what Warner was up to and decided that this was exactly the kind of man the party needed. And the fact that evidence has only emerged after so many years to prove what everyone always knew means justice delayed should cancel justice: which, of course, is the same logic which informed Section 34.
Exception: This rule does not apply to PNM thieves, so Johnny O’Halloran and Francis Prevatt remain proof that PNM is corrupt.
RULE #4 — Innocent until proven innocent: Health Minister Fuad Khan has said Warner should not have resigned, but should have cleared himself of the allegations.
Now you may think Dr Khan’s argument is flawed, since Warner resigned from FIFA rather than facing its tribunal, and refused to respond to the charges by Concacaf Integrity Commission when invited to do so. But Dr Khan has advised his wife not to take up a post with the North-West Regional Health Authority because it would look bad, which means he finds Jack Warner looks better. But that can happen when your profession sees you specialising in urology.
Exception: This rule does not apply to PNM officials like Manning, Calder Hart, or Keith Rowley. In fact, in the case of Dr Rowley, the rule is that he is guilty despite being proved innocent.
RULE #5 — New politics is sad: COP leader Prakash Ramadhar says Warner’s resignation is “a sad occasion on a personal level”. This means new politics is not happy when a politician who represents the worst qualities of a politician is forced out of office, perhaps because this will make citizens feel corrupt politicians have less chance of getting into office.
Exception: Any tief who doesn’t contribute stolen money to the party’s coffers.
RULE #6 — High depends on how much you drink: According to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, “Mr Warner took the high ground, in the best Westminster tradition.” That is the tradition which says deny, deny, deny until you’re caught.
Exception: When PNM chairman and PNM Energy Minister Eric Williams did the same thing, this was just proof the PNM is corrupt.
RULE #7 — Contradiction is not proof of lying: After spending weeks bad-talking the media for being stupid liars, Jack Warner, according to himself, resigned because he read a newspaper report saying the Prime Minister was “stunned” at the Concacaf report. In fact, according to Jack, he later confirmed the media had lied again, saying, “But when I asked her if she said so, she said no.” Yet he still didn’t withdraw his resignation even though the reason he says he resigned no longer existed.
Exception: Anyone who contradicts UNC hacks, paid bloggers, and other sycophants.