Government Minister Marlene McDonald is not the first sitting minister to face the challenge of being arrested for a criminal offence.
While she is the latest of several politicians to face serious police investigations, there were many before her.
Guardian Media revisited some of the cases and matters over the past two administrations and found that while some ministers resigned, others were removed after they were arrested and charged.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is not the only one with a tough decision to make when it comes to one of his ministers.
In the past, there have been several instances of sitting ministers running afoul of the law or facing police investigations.
Eric Williams
In 2005, People’s National Movement councillor Dansam Dhansook alleged that he paid bribes for a seismic survey to then minister of works Franklin Khan and then minister of energy Eric Williams.
Khan subsequently resigned as a minister and chairman of the PNM and Williams also resigned as minister.
The allegation was brought to Parliament by Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar who read out a letter from Dhansook to then Prime Minister Patrick Manning, claiming to have paid Williams a $75,000 bribe, and mentioning an alleged bribe also paid to Khan. Dhansook later withdrew the allegations.
The cases collapsed after Dhansook recanted his claims and Khan was reappointed to his position.
Mary King
When the People’s Partnership took office in 2010, economist Mary King who served as planning minister fell under the radar of misconduct.
Just two weeks short of the party’s first anniversary, news surfaced that King, in a serious conflict of interest, was involved in the award of a $100,000 contract for website development at the Planning Ministry to Ixanos Limited, a company with ties to King, her son and her husband.
King was fired.
Jack Warner
One year later, by 2013 the People’s Partnership national security minister Jack Warner resigned.
Warner’s resignation was not a surprise as it coincided with the damning details of a Concacaf report which implicated Warner in financial impropriety and fraudulent mismanagement. Then Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley spent almost a year campaigning for Warner to resign and when news broke of Warner’s resignation, Rowley would only say it was one year too late.
Warner is currently fighting his extradition to the United States to face a series of charges arising from the Concacaf report. Warner lost his appeal over the dismissal of his lawsuit challenging the United States extradition request for him and has taken his case to the Privy Council.
Collin Partap
The People’s Partnership also lost minister in the Ministry of National Security, Collin Partap who was fired after failing to take a breathalyser test near a nightclub. Partap was fired with immediate effect after he refused to take a breathalyser test.
According to police Partap was seen drinking from a bottle of alcohol while leaving the nightclub.
Police testified that Partap got into his SUV, turned on the flashing blue lights and attempted to drive away. Police claimed Partap refused several requests to submit to a breathalyser test as he said he would wait to speak to then-acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams. In 2017, Partap lost his appeal against conviction and had to pay a $5,000 fine.
Herbert Volney
Retired judge and former Justice Minister Herbert Volney was fired after it was alleged that he misled the Parliament in the Section 34 fiasco. Volney said he alone conceptualised Section 34 in a bid to force the hand of the Director of Public Prosecution to prosecute long-outstanding matters where oppression, by delay, was becoming an issue. Section 34 prescribed a limitation period of ten years in respect of certain offences, excluding treason, murder, kidnapping, rape, assault, drug trafficking and arms and ammunition possession.
The Opposition at the time claimed that the clause was inserted to specifically benefit UNC financiers charged in the Piarco Airport corruption case.
Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh
Former Minister of the People Glenn Ramadharsingh was fired after claims were raised by a flight attendant of his inappropriate conduct on a Caribbean Airlines flight from Tobago to Trinidad. Ramdharsingh, then minister of the people, was on a flight between Trinidad and Tobago when he had a run-in with a flight attendant. Ramadharsingh claimed he intended to look at the air hostess name tag and inadvertently touched her breast. Ramadharsingh also faced other accusations of sexual misconduct after reports that he used his office to gain sexual favours in exchange for fast-tracking a house through the Housing Development Corporation.
While two major investigations closed this year—Emailgate and a bag of a plant-like substance- it hung over the heads of the parliamentarians for years before it finally ended.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley
NICOLE DRAYTON
In May 2013, Rowley, as Opposition Leader read out the contents of 31-emails exchanged among several high-ranking government ministers which allegedly discussed a criminal conspiracy against Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, and a plot to discredit a reporter well as a payment in exchange for freedom by an unnamed person.
Rowley read a thread of the emails purported to be exchanged between then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and government minister Suruj Rambachan, Dr Roodal Moonilal and then-national security advisor Gary Griffith. Last month, the police closed the file in the case saying there was no evidence to corroborate the claims.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar
In April 2013, police found a small bag marijuana at the private home of then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Persad-Bissessar was out of the country at the time of the discovery.
The police investigation lasted some six years and was finally closed in June 2019 when Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith confirmed that it was marijuana in the small bag and cleared Persad-Bissessar of any wrongdoing but noted that the probe was still ongoing.
Griffith noted that the drugs were found outside the home and more than 70 people had access to the yard, including gardeners, drivers, soldiers, police officers and plumbers.
In 2018, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley called for a police investigation into claims made by Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal that he (Rowley) was linked to a Miami bank account involved in the multi-million dollar fake oil scandal.
In Parliament in October 2018, Moonilal read out details of alleged bank document and an alleged email which purportedly showed that Rowley held a joint account with People’s National Movement (PNM) candidate for Siparia Vidya Deokiesingh.
Deokiesingh was fired from Petrotrin after two external investigations found evidence of his involvement in the A&V Oil sale of doctored invoices of oil to Petrotrin. This matter is still under investigation.
Gerald Ramdeen and Anand Ramlogan
The United National Congress (UNC) also had to deal with the arrest of its former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and sitting senator Gerald Ramdeen.
The two spent just over two days in police custody and were with corruption-related offences arising out of an alleged conspiracy to benefit from fees from legal briefs from the State.
Both were released on a $3 million bail and the matter is currently before the courts. Ramdeen was asked to resign his senatorship.
Glen Ram
Just months ago the UNC was again rocked by corruption allegations after the chairman of the Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation Glen Ram was arrested on corruption charges after he was accused of receiving a $1,500 bribe. The UNC said it was awaiting the results of the police investigation before deciding on Ram’s future with the party. The UNC also accused the PNM of using Ram’s arrest as a distraction. Rowley has called for the party to fire Ram as a councillor until the matter is resolved.
Darryl Smith
In April 2018, just a day after being appointed Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley revoked Darryl Smith’s appointment. At a surprise Cabinet reshuffle, Rowley appointed himself Minister of Housing and Urban Development and demoted Smith as his Junior Minister.
But one day later, Rowley said that “new information” came to light and advised President Paula-Mae Weekes to revoke Smith’s appointment. Smith was accused of sexual misconduct with a staffer. She was paid off but the details are part of a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and today Smith remains an active part of the PNM Government.
There are also questions relating to Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi’s involvement in the rental of properties owned by his family to government agencies. There have been steady calls for more transparency in the award of the rental contracts. Though the AG said he recused himself during the Cabinet’s deliberation, the details of the lease agreements remain unclear.
Camille Robinson-Regis
Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis also faced questions about her role in the deposit of more than $93,000 in a First Citizens account. Social activist groups Fixin’ T&T and TnTWhistleblower have repeatedly called for Robinson-Regis to come clean on the deposits. Though Robinson-Regis said everything was above board, the groups called on Robinson-Regis to “facilitate complete and transparent ventilation of the facts” about a cash deposit. That matter is still unresolved.