T&T Central bank Fraud in 2023 : $20 million and $25 million

Auditor General Jaiwantie Ramdass in a letter to the Central Bank Governor dated January 23, 2026 red-flagged two fraudulent cheques for $20 million and for $25 million. The legal claim filed on June 10, 2026 named NiPat General Contractors Limited, managing director Nigel Patterson Vincent and director Jackqui Watson-Vincent as defendants. The Central Bank claims that on September 29, 2023, Vincent went to Republic Bank’s San Juan branch and deposited a cheque for $20 million into NiPat’s account.

The Central Bank alleges that nearly a month later, on October 26, 2023, it discovered that the cheque was fraudulent. According to the claim, officials from the Treasury Division of the Ministry of Finance confirmed that the ministry had never issued the cheque and was not indebted to NiPat at the time. The Central Bank says that when it alerted Republic Bank to the alleged fraud on October 26, 2023, the bank immediately froze the account. However, by that time, only $1.23 million remained.

The alleged fraudulent payment occurred during the term of former Central Bank Governor Alvin Hilaire, whose tenure ended in June 2025.In 2025, a public dispute revealed that the Central Bank had prevented the Auditor General from auditing its accounts.