Chairman of the Community-based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) Adesh Deonarine says there are documents to prove approximately $3 million was returned from the account of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).Deonarine was responding to the THA's Finance and Enterprise Development Secretary Dr Anslem London who said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had no evidence to support her comments about funds totalling $2,948,608 were sent to the THA's account at First Citizens.
While she was in Tobago recently to open a CEPEP office, Persad-Bissessar said the funds were issued and sent to Tobago but were subsequently returned.London, however, disputed that and called on THA officials to investigate all financial records over the last three years.In an interview yesterday, Deonarine said: "We have the documents to prove the money transfer was done in 2009.
"Mr London's statements are inaccurate and the Prime Minister was right in saying the funds were returned."Deonarine said on June 12 2009 the company, via its First Citizens Bank account on St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain, made two money transfers electronically, each in the sum of $1,474,304, to the THA account.He said the money was subsequently returned to the CEPEP account three days later."The money is still in the account as an account payable," Deonarine said.He added CEPEP never gave instructions to the bank for the funds to be returned.