The plea agreement matter involving Queen’s Counsel Vincent Nelson, the state’s main witness in the case against former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and ex-United Congress Senator Gerald Ramdeen, failed to begin as planned yesterday, as he was unable to arrive in this country in time for the hearing.
The matter came up for hearing before High Court Judge Malcolm Holdip at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain at 2 pm, but the court learned that Nelson was yet to return to this country from the United Kingdom.
Justice Holdip was informed that because of the late announcement of the date for the hearing, Nelson was unable to return to this country in time for the proceedings.
On May 2, Nelson, 61, accepted a plea deal after he was charged with three offences related to the alleged kickback of millions of dollars in legal fees to Ramlogan and Ramdeen. Nelson was accused of conspiring with Ramlogan and Ramdeen to receive, conceal and transfer criminal property, namely the rewards given to Ramlogan by Nelson for being appointed to represent the State in several cases. He was also accused of conspiring with them to corruptly give Ramlogan some of the funds and of conspiring with them to make Ramlogan misbehave in public office by receiving some of the funds.
Nelson pleaded guilty to the charges before Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle and agreed to be the State’s main witness in its case against Ramlogan and Ramdeen under the Criminal Procedure (Plea Discussion and Plea Agreement) Act 2017, which was proclaimed in January.
The Queen’s Counsel was granted bail in the sum of $100,000 on his first appearance and was allowed to return to the UK after his lawyers raised concerns about his health and personal safety.
In accordance with the act, the matter was moved past the preliminary inquiry stage and transferred to the High Court within two weeks, leading to it being called there yesterday.
The matter was adjourned to June 4.