Ramlogan, Ramdeen charged

AFTER spending more than two days in police custody, former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and UNC senator Gerald Ramdeen have been charged with corruption-related offences arising out of an alleged conspiracy to financially reward themselves with fees from legal briefs from the State.

Just after 7 pm, Anti-Corruption Investigative Bureau (ACIB) officers received the go-ahead from Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, SC, to lay the charges against the two and less than an hour later, the men were booked at the ACIB’s offices at Independence Square, Port of Spain.

Their fingerprints and photographs were taken and the process of them being granted station bail began.
Ramlogan’s attorney Pamela Elder, SC, arrived at the ACIB’s offices just before 8 pm and was accompanied by Ramdeen’s attorney Mario Merritt.

On Thursday, their alleged co-conspirator, Jamaican-born Queen’s Counsel Vincent Nelson appeared in court on three similar charges. He has agreed to a plea deal with the prosecution, in exchange for his testimony against the two and is expected to plead guilty to the charges later this month.

According to the allegations against them, Ramlogan and Ramdeen conspired for the former attorney general to misbehave in public office as AG by accepting sums of money representing a reward from Nelson for granting him State briefs

It is further alleged that they conspired for Ramdeen to receive, conceal, and transfer criminal property which represented corrupt rewards given to Ramlogan by Nelson for the State briefs.
The third allegation against the two is that they conspired for Nelson to give ten per cent of the paid legal fees to Ramlogan as a “gift” or “reward” for being granted those State briefs.