Two police officers were charged with several offences, including misbehaviour in public office, over the weekend.
According to a statement from the TTPS, PC Adrian Ward, 33, was granted bail with surety in the sum of $500,000 by Justice of the Peace Abraham Ali following his arrest last week; while WPC Cheryl Gibson was scheduled to appear before a Port-of-Spain magistrate yesterday.
Ward was last assigned to the Western Division, while Gibson last worked out of the Port-of-Spain Division.
They were arrested and charged following instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, SC, on August 13.
The TTPS said Ward and Gibson were jointly charged with four counts of misbehaviour in public office, including corruptly receiving an illegal firearm; corruptly receiving 15 rounds of ammunition; corruptly soliciting the sum of $30,000 and corruptly receiving the sum of $30,000.
Ward was also charged with one count of money laundering, while Gibson was charged with two counts of money laundering.
The TTPS said a male victim reported to officers that on August 8, he was at his workplace in Port-of-Spain, when three uniformed police officers, comprising one female and two males, entered and conducted a search of the premises.
It was alleged they found an illegal pistol loaded with a magazine containing 15 rounds of ammunition in the man’s possession.
The victim claimed one of the male officers took possession of the firearm and then reportedly demanded the sum of $30,000 from him to forego charging him.
The victim said he paid the officer, following which the male officer handed the firearm and money over to the female officer.
The victim later made a report to the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) about the incident.
The investigation was spearheaded by Snr Supt Suzette Martin and supervised by Supt Montrichard and ASP Birch.
Ward and Gibson were arrested on August 9 but were only charged by PC Bradley Marcellin on Sunday (August 14).