Guardian ( Trinidad and Tobago )
23 May 2023 ( Page 5 )
Kuei Tung, Ferguson appeal US$131.5M Piarco case
DEREK ACHONG - SENIOR REPORTER - DEREK.ACHONG@GUARDIAN.CO.TT
Former government minister Brian Kuei Tung, businessman Steve Ferguson
and United States businessman Raul Guiterrez Jr have signalled their
intention to appeal the Government’s US$131.5 million (approx.
TT$900 million) judgment against them, over alleged fraud related to the
construction of the Piarco International Airport.
The trio’s US legal teams filed the appeal last week after Miami-Dade Circuit
Court Judge Reemberto Diaz approved the final judgment sought by the
State, which was initially approved by a jury in March.
Kuei Tung and Guiterrez Jr filed their appeal jointly, while Ferguson’s was
filed separately.
Guardian Media was unable to confirm whether the trio posted a bond
covering the entire judgment sum plus two years’ interest, which is
necessary to stay the enforcement of the judgment pending the outcome of
the appeal.
In a media conference after Diaz’s judgment last week, former attorney
general and current Rural Development and Local Government Minister Faris
Al-Rawi announced the Government’s plan to enforce the judgment against
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Reemberto Diaz
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the trio as they mulled over their appeal.
Al-Rawi explained that the enforcement process would entail the State’s
lawyers applying to the US court for the disclosure of the trio’s US assets.
He also explained that the three individuals do not have to pay equal portions
of the judgment sum, as the entire compensation could be taken from one
depending on the circumstances.
“It does not have to be split in three. It is up to them how they are going to
treat with the civil liability amongst themselves,”
Al-Rawi said.
The final judgment obtained in the Miami case is based on the US$32,385,988
in compensation by the jury, which has to be tripled as the racketeering
charges were filed under the US’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organisations Act (RICO).
The country also successfully sought US$38,876,972.89 in prejudgment
interest less US$4,631,691, which was previously paid by the trio in
settlements and restitution.
The US lawsuit relates to the alleged inflation of two related construction
contracts and a maintenance contract for the airport.
The US case is separate from four local criminal cases over the airport
project.
In the first case, commonly referred to as Piarco One, a group of government
officials and businesspeople was charged with offences related to the alleged
theft of $19 million.
The group included businessman Ishwar Galbaransingh, Kuei Tung; former
national security minister Russell Huggins; former Nipdec chairman Edward
Bayley (now deceased); Maritime General executives John Smith (now
deceased), Ferguson and Barbara Gomes; Northern Construction Financial
Director Amrith Maharaj; and Kuei Tung’s then companion Renee Pierre.
Some of the group and other public officials were also slapped with separate
charges over an alleged broader conspiracy in another case, commonly
referred to as Piarco Two.
The Piarco Three case pertained to a £25,000 bribe allegedly received by
former prime minister Basdeo Panday and his wife Oma and allegedly paid by
Galbaransingh and former government minister Carlos John as an alleged
inducement in relation to the airport project. The Piarco Four case only
involves Pierre.
In 2019, a High Court Judge upheld a legal challenge over the Piarco Two case
after former senior magistrate Ejenny Espinet retired with the preliminary
inquiry almost complete.
The ruling meant that the preliminary inquiry into the Piarco Two case had to
be restarted afresh before a new magistrate, along with the Piarco Three
inquiry, which was also before Espinet and left incomplete upon her
retirement. The Piarco Four inquiry was completed with Pierre being
committed to stand trial.
In June last year, the United Kingdom-based Privy Council upheld an appeal
from some of the accused in the Piarco 1 case over the decision of former
chief magistrate Sherman McNicolls to commit them to stand trial for the
charges. The Privy Council ruled that McNicolls should have upheld their
application for him to recuse himself from the case as he was
“hopelessly compromised,” based on a then-pending land deal with Clico
and the involvement of former attorney general John Jeremie, SC, in helping
him resolve it.
In March, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, SC,
discontinued the Piarco Three case against the Pandays, Galbaransingh and
John.
Gaspard explained that his decision was based on the low probability of his
office securing convictions in the case. He noted that several key witnesses
in the case have died since the group was charged in 2006 and one main
witness is now elderly and lives abroad.
He also pointed out that the accused had a “fair argument” that they faced
“presumed, presumptive, and specific” prejudice in the case.
In a subsequent radio interview, Gaspard noted that he planned to continue
prosecuting the remaining cases.
Gaspard said: “I have made no determination except that we are proceeding
with the rest.”
Photo: Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Reemberto Diaz
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