Dear Editor,
We refer to reports of charges laid by SOCU against the ‘Herstelling trio’ for money laundering and conspiracy to launder over $4.1b and feel compelled to state that we are unimpressed by any inference on the part of authorities and there exists the will to seriously address the scourge in question. Further, our experience regarding efforts to confront this phenomenon, leads us to the clear conclusion that application of the law is very selective and that the well-connected are afforded a high degree of immunity from prosecution or accountability.
In support of the foregoing and given that you have reported on our matter we take the liberty of sharing the following:
1. Appeal to Attorney General Anil Nandlall dated August 9,
2022 and
2. Letter dated October 3, 2022, to
the Governor, Central Bank of
Trinidad and Tobago
To date we have not even as much, received any acknowledgement of receipt to either of the above or a response from any of the persons or entities to which they were copied.
It will be noted that one of the entities copied in the correspondence to the T&T Central Bank is the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force. While it may be premature of us to assume that no effort is being made by any of the entities approached, we are reluctantly concluding that an allegedly unlawful seizure of a private business by one of the Caribbean’s largest financial institutions is not a matter deserving of serious and prompt intervention.
It is for the foregoing reasons that we take this opportunity to express our deepest appreciation once again to your paper for giving publicity to this matter. It serves a vital role of alerting other arms of the state that sunlight will continue to be shone on national affairs.
Sincerely
Ronald Bulkan
Joint Managing Director
Precision Woodworking Limited
