T&T..PNM served brief Balisier House funding

Legal documents issued by the court—relating to People's National Movement (PNM) having to explain where they got the money from to build Balisier House—were officially served on the party’s general secretary Foster Cummings around 12:15 am today, as he returned to the country and stepped out of the airport.

Police sources indicated no one in the party wanted to accept service. Party leader Pennelope Beckles is reportedly out of the country.

Cummings returned to the country this morning and accepted service at the Piarco International Airport.

Balisier House probe sparks fresh calls for campaign finance reform

The Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) has accused both the People’s National Movement (PNM) and the United National Congress (UNC) of hypocrisy amid the ongoing investigation into the funding of Balisier House, condemning both parties for failing to enact campaign finance reform despite years of promises. The calls for reform come as the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service investigates how the PNM financed the construction of Balisier House after obtaining a court order authorizing the inquiry.

He noted that the Representation of the People (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2020, remained before a Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Parliament for four years without being passed. The proposed legislation would require political parties to register, maintain proper accounting records, submit annual financial reports and disclose the financial institutions where they hold accounts. “They’re both guilty of undermining the democracy of Trinidad and Tobago, because Kamla talks about the 1% financing the PNM and so on. Well, who are the financiers of the UNC, Kamla? Tell us who are the financiers of the UNC,” he said.

He also criticized the PNM for failing to advance campaign finance reform during its decade in office, arguing that the legislation introduced to Parliament in 2020 required only a simple majority and did not depend on the Opposition’s support. “So, when Dr Rowley fusses about what is happening to the PNM. When Penny Beckles fusses about what is happening and Marvin Gonzales — all of them were in Parliament between 2020 and 2025.” His comments came as other political leaders also called for campaign finance reform in response to the investigation into the funding of the PNM’s headquarters.

The Court require the PNM to provide the following documents:

The application names the Trustees of the PNM as the first respondent and the PNM, represented by its General Secretary, as the second respondent. The matter is listed as an ex parte application brought by the Commissioner of Police pursuant to Section 58(1) of the Act, with Ramdath Phillip acting as the applicant in the proceedings. In the filing, ASP Phillip stated that investigators identified property during the course of an investigation into what he described only as a "specified offence".

The application alleged there are reasonable grounds to suspect that:

The total wealth of the respondents exceeds the value of their lawfully obtained wealth;

The total wealth of the respondents exceeds $500,000;

The property in question is owned by the respondents or is under their effective control; and

The property was obtained through the commission of a specified offence.

The police are asking the court to compel the PNM and its trustees to file declarations and answer questions relating to their assets and wealth.

Note : In a decade PNM secretary Cummings received over 30 million in contracts.

PNM gears up for court fight over Balisier House financing probe

The People’s National Movement (PNM) says it is preparing for a legal battle after confirming it has been served with court documents relating to the financing of the renovation and construction of its Tranquility Street, Port-of-Spain headquarters, Balisier House. The party said its legal team is reviewing the documents.

Last week, High Court Judge Margaret Mohammed granted a Preliminary Unexplained Wealth Order requiring the party, through its trustees, to disclose how the multi-million-dollar project was funded. The order, granted on Friday, was sought by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) under the provisions of the Civil Asset Recovery and Management and Unexplained Wealth Act, which was introduced by the PNM while it was in government in 2019.

Questions surrounding the financing of the project had been raised repeatedly by current Government members, including Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, even before the party was elected in April last year. However, PNM chairman Marvin Gonzales yesterday questioned a video showing the documents being served on the party’s general secretary Foster Cummings. Gonzales said Cummings was served shortly after arriving at the airport shortly after 1 am yesterday.

Note : Gosh, I wonder if they hired sodden to represent them.🙄

One day one congotay.

Instead of  congotay.

Read this :

When ‘gifts’ of public land ignore reparative justice

You've never posted anything I have not read. Everything you've pasted here has been several days after I've encountered it. I follow the parliaments, live as well as all the press conferences. I guess you are excited that a black man wrote this, but that means nothing. People have their hangups, their misgivings, their grudges, and it comes in all races. We had house slaves, and they still linger today in the name of Attorney General, Homeland security minister etc.. While you gloat, the accusations against the Hadeeds are conspiracy to kill the PM and other Ministers. Where is the evidence after all this time? Why dod they have to be kept behind bars using a PSO if the case is so strong? And, you convolute the thing when you add Blue Water to it. Is it a grudge against these folks to crush their business? This one of the easiest cases to fall apart, once brought to the open court. The one with the PNM Headquarters too. You see, all the glee now would end up in tears, and it won't be those laughing. If you pay close attention to the story, and all the disconnected parts, you would be more careful. Monkey say, kool breeze.

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The ongoing investigation involving businessman Dominic Hadeed and his wife Genevieve Hadeed in Trinidad and Tobago is a perfect real-world example of why the police and ministers must remain silent.

Protecting the Investigation: The police are actively widening their probe and recently detained a third person. If authorities blab about their evidence or intelligence sources early on, it could tip off other suspects, cause evidence to disappear, or ruin the case.

Preventing Political Interference: Ministers (like the Minister of Homeland Security who signs detention orders) cannot act as judge and jury. If politicians broadcast unproven details to the public, it violates the rule of law and risks creating a "trial by media" before a real court can evaluate the facts.

Preserving a Fair Trial: Every citizen is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Spouting raw, unverified intelligence ruins a person’s reputation permanently.

The Trigger for Information: The public and the defense do not get a full look at the cards right now because the matter is still a police inquiry.

The Handover: True legal disclosure only happens after the police officially file formal criminal charges.

The Defense Rights: Once charged, the law forces the state to hand over every piece of evidence to the Hadeeds' defense attorneys (such as Douglas Mendes, SC) so they can prepare their defense in a transparent court of law