(Trinidad Guardian) Housing Minister and Laventille East/Morvant MP Adrian Leonce is now in hot water, after admitting to registering a UK-based company using another person’s address in that country before terminating the company.
However, Leonce insists he has done nothing wrong and rejected accusations of illegal activity linked to the company.
“I categorically deny any involvement whatsoever in any illegal activity, either directly or indirectly,” Leonce said in a statement yesterday.
Leonce was responding to Opposition member Anil Roberts, who, in a social media video on Sunday, asked if Leonce was the official referred to in a media report that surfaced on the weekend.
Leonce said he had contacted his lawyers over the social media post that, in his view, falsely suggested wrongdoing.
“The claim is completely without foundation,” Leonce said.
The media report Roberts was referring to claimed that a high-ranking Government official was one of two people linked to a company formed in the UK in September 2023. The other director of the company was later allegedly discovered to have international criminal ties across the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe.
In his response yesterday, Leonce confirmed that he used a Trinidadian businessman’s UK address to set up an engineering and construction company in Britain in September 2023.
“Registering the business, I was told I required a UK address, and the gentleman offered to use his, which meant that he would also necessarily have had to be listed as a director,” Leonce said.
“I did not see a problem, given the fact that we were merely registering a company and this is a normal type of transaction. There was no bank account or any other activity or considerations.”
However, Leonce said a further information search was initiated during the registration process.
“While completing the registration, the gentleman was informed by his agents that, given that I was a politically exposed person (PEP), he needed to provide more information than was usual and that the process would be a little longer. The company was registered in September 2023,” he said.
A few months later, though, Leonce said he got new information on the individual.
“In July 2024, I was informed that the gentleman with whom I was listed jointly as a director of my UK company, was the subject of an investigation unbeknownst to me. I immediately contacted him and told him to terminate the company and that I will be severing all connections with him,” he said.
“The company was terminated on July 17, 2024. I have no affiliation with the individual other than this and know nothing of his business dealings or other activities.”
Giving an insight into why he started the business, Leonce said having studied in the UK, he decided to start it as part of his plan to re-enter the engineering and construction industry after a decade in politics. He said he aimed to generate foreign currency through operations in the Caribbean and the UK.
Last December, Leonce suddenly stepped away from electoral politics, choosing, on the day he was scheduled to be screened again by the People’s National Movement (PNM) for his seat, not to attend. He has never said why he was stepping aside but confirmed it was not due to health issues or family obligations.
Prime Minister Stuart Young did not answer queries from Guardian Media on the issue yesterday.
However, Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal described the revelations as “deeply troubling,” saying it appeared that Leonce had failed to conduct proper due diligence in the matter.
“It speaks volumes of a lack of judgement if one can subject oneself to business arrangements with an allegedly notorious person without due care and attention,” Moonilal said.
“Why would a sitting Minister of Government be registering a business in 2023 in England?”
He also raised questions about whether Leonce had properly declared the venture to the Integrity Commission, adding that the Opposition would be demanding answers.
“This is particularly concerning, given that new Prime Minister Stuart Young has reposed extreme confidence in the minister to handle such a critical multibillion-dollar sector as housing,” he said.
Also contacted last evening, Integrity Commission chairman Hayden Gittens said he was not aware of Leonce’s statement, or if Leonce had in fact declared that he had an interest in a UK company. He said he preferred not to comment directly on those matters.
However, Gittens explained that there is nothing preventing a government member from opening a business or becoming a director of a business, but said there is a disclosure requirement as part of the Integrity in Public Life Act.
“The form B requires a disclosure if you have that interest, which may or may not create a conflict situation. It would not be a breach simply opening the business or account. If you do not declare, then a person would be in contravention of the act.”
