(Trinidad Express) Six days ago, the Integrity Commission forwarded a confidential report to Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, recommending a criminal probe on former Prime Minister Patrick Manning and former government Minister Hedwige Bereaux.
The disclosure of the recommendation, which was made public on Friday in an affidavit filed in the San Fernando High Court, did not name the politicians, but reliable sources said Manning and Bereaux were the subjects of the enquiry and had been interviewed by the commission’s investigator.
Registrar of the Integrity Commission Martin Farrell, in a sworn statement filed at the San Fernando Civil Registry, stated the commission had concluded the two people, identified as Person X and Person Y, “had failed without reasonable justification to fulfil their duties or obligations under the Integrity in Public Life Act.”
He said the commission came to that conclusion on May 28, four days after the general election, and on June 7, the commission made a report to the DPP under Section 31 of the act, in respect of the two unnamed people.
The affidavit was in response to a 2008 lawsuit filed by then attorney Anand Ramlogan, representing the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS). It complained about the delay of the Integrity Commission to conclude its investigation into the speedy award of a radio licence to Louis Lee Sing’s Citadel Ltd.
Former PM Patrick Manning
It was on the basis of a July 12, 2006 complaint filed by Satnarayan Maharaj, secretary general of the SDMS, over the Citadel licence and the failure of the state to treat with similar application by the SDMS fairly, that the commission launched its investigation.
Contacted at his home on Friday, Manning, at first, declined to be interviewed. Pressed that the matter concerned the Integrity Commission’s investigation into the award of a radio licence to Citadel, Manning advised the Express to speak to his attorney, Michael Quamina.
Quamina later said his client had received correspondence from the commission and Manning was going to consult with his attorneys. The lawyer said Manning will be in a position to comment on the matter next week.