Police probe into Marlene nearing end

Nalinee Seelal

Fraud Squad detectives probing the alleged misappropriation of three cheques to the Calabar Foundation by newly appointed junior minister in the Ministry of Public Administration, Marlene McDonald, is nearing completion.

Sources revealed yesterday that close to a dozen people were interviewed as part of the investigation which began in 2016 under the supervision of Snr. Supt Totaram Dookhie, head of the Fraud Squad.

Well placed sources said yesterday that officers have been instructed to carry out further investigations and to ensure there are no loopholes before submitting a file to Director of Public Prosecutions, Roger Gaspard.

Legal officers assigned to the Police Service have been guiding investigators in this probe and some of the key players interviewed are senior managers from a particular bank, as well as the head of the Calabar Foundation, Michael Carew, who is said to be McDonald’s common-law husband.

Mc Donald admitted at a press conference in 2016 that Carew was in fact her husband.

Officers of the Fraud Squad also revealed that were awaiting a statement from a journalist who attended the news conference to provide a statement.

The investigating team was set up by acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams on March 18, 2016. Williams had sent a letter to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley indicating that a criminal investigation had been launched into the Calabar Foundation.

Newsday was informed that the team consists of officers from the Fraud Squad and Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Police have seized documents from the Ministry of Community Development where Minister Mc Donald served and had also requested documents from the Housing Development Corporation (HDC). Documents were also seized from a private residence.

Mc Donald, Carew, his brother Lennox as well as officials of the Ministry of Community Development were expected to be interviewed and bank records obtained.

The Calabar Foundation was incorporated on August 24, 2010.

Cheques were issued by McDonald who was then Minister of Community Development: one on May 12, 2010 and collected on May 12, 2010; another in the sum of $375,000, and the third for $200,000 were issued but the requests were made on April 27 and May 4, 2010.

The cheques were deposited to the Calabar Foundation via a Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT) account on September 9, 2010. The money was made available to the Calabar Foundation before the company was incorporated and the cash was supposed to be used to build a community centre in the Laventille area.

No community centre was built and it remains unclear if the cheques were ever cashed by members of the Calabar Foundation.

Mc Donald has stated publicly that she has nothing to hide and will cooperate with the investigation.

She was appointed the Minister in the Ministry of Public Administration and Communications on Thursday and will assist the prime minister who continues to hold the portfolio which he assumed since the substantive minister, Maxie Cuffie, fell ill a few months ago.

In making the appointment Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said, “Ms. McDonald can make a valuable contribution to the ministry and I am confident that she will meritoriously perform the duties required as a minister in the ministry”.

She pledged to dedicate herself to the business of the ministry and said that she was “committed and motivated to perform”.

McDonald was axed in March 2016 as Housing Minister after questions had arisen over her alleged recommendation of public housing for her male companion. She was also queried over donations from her ministry when she was minister in 2010 of $375,000 and $200,000 plus another sum to the Calabar Foundation.

She was again fired as Public Utilities Minister just 48 hours after her swearing-in ceremony on June 30, 2017, after red flags were raised about her guest, Sea Lots personality Cedric Burke, whose presence reportedly alarmed Special Branch officers at the event and reportedly incensed Rowley upon his learning of it later on.