Robert Simels, the former attorney for Roger Khan, opted to take the stand in the US court where he is on trial, testifying yesterday that the confessed Guyanese drug trafficker received government assistance “to have the intercept equipment and guns to fight the Buxton gang known as the Taliban”.
According to Capitol News, the attorney who had alleged government ties to Khan testified publicly for the first time, and he said from the witness stand that Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy authorized the purchase of the intercept equipment. The government and Ramsammy have repeatedly denied any connection to the equipment.
Simels is on trial for witness tampering in the Khan case. The star witness was an informant for the US government, Selwyn Vaughn, who has already testified.
Simels testified that he obtained an ex parte subpoena for the Spy Store and FBI agent Justin Krider to disclose how the “intercept equipment was purchased”, and he then said that the intercept equipment was purchased in 2003 through the Spy Shop in Florida from Smith Myers on the authorization of the minister.
From the stand he said that he met Minister Ramsammy and Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee among other officials during visits here while working on the Khan case.
Minister Ramsammy who has fervently rejected claims of any ties to Khan told Stabroek News last night that he never met Simels.
“Maybe he wanted to see me, but I never met with him”, Ramsammy said.
The Home Affairs Minister declined to comment when contacted saying that his position on the trial had been known, “no comment”.
Simels, who, along with his assistant, Arianne Irving, has been indicted on witness-tampering charges among others, had previously repeated claims that Khan received permission from the Guyana government to purchase surveillance equipment capable of intercepting and tracing telephone calls made from landline or cellular phones.
Capitol News reported that Simels’ testimony included claims that before taking on the Khan case in August of 2006 he never knew Khan or heard about Guyana except when someone reminded him of an infamous incident that occurred several years ago. Simels said that he spent his time reading about Guyana from books and internet editions of Guyanese newspapers.
The attorney told the court that he was investigating “the fact that in Guyana Roger Khan was a hero for taking on the Taliban (a reference to a once Buxton-based gang”. He said that his former client had advised him that he was not a drug dealer but a Guyanese businessman.
Khan’s former attorney spent over three hours on the witness stand, Capitol News said, appearing very relaxed. He sat up in the stand, speaking professionally and directly at the jury.
Simels told the court that what he did was expected of a defence attorney who believed that his client was innocent of the charges in the Federal Court.
The attorney sought to explain why he was in possession of the intercept equipment when the US authorities conducted a search. He said that Roger Khan wanted to show that former Army officer, David Clarke was in league with the Buxton Gang and that the officer was the drug dealer, not Khan. Khan was the businessman.
Simels said that his former client told him that he had recordings of the army major that would prove he and Clarke were not co-conspirators in a drug conspiracy as alleged in the indictment by the US prosecutors. According to him, Khan wanted to use the recording of the intercepts of Clarke that Khan made using the CSM 7806 intercept equipment to convince the jury that Clarke and Khan were actually enemies in a political struggle.
Simels said too that his investigating team had discovered that Clarke was among the witnesses to testify against Khan in the drug trial. He said also that Khan linked Clarke to drugs because there were transcripts in the New York Eastern District court that pointed to the former army officer.
Further, Simels testified that he also met with named drug dealers in Guyana on his trips to gather information. He said the dealers came to the Pegasus and he met some persons at a home in Guyana. Simels said that Khan named another “businessman and associate” (in the timber business).
Capitol News reported that the defence also called two attorneys to the stand. One who testified about the procedure for visiting inmates at detention facilities and prisons and the other a prominent New York attorney, Anthony Ricco who appeared as an “expert witness” on Criminal Defense Procedure , Regulations and Ethics.
But Simels will conclude his testimony in chief and face cross-examination today when the trial continues. Prior to him taking the stand the prosecution had wrapped up its case.
Simels’ testimony on the spy equipment follows an earlier statement from Peter Myers, Co-director of UK firm Smith that the cellular intercept equipment used by drug kingpin Roger Khan had been sold to the Government of Guyana.
The Government has rejected Myers’ testimony which linked it to the sale, declaring that it was not a party to any activity with the firm or US authorities in the purchase and or importation of the equipment.
The administration also charged that there is no evidence tying it to the purchase and that it was not a party to any transaction with the US government agency responsible for granting export licensing for the equipment.
