$22m probe: Gang ties to get-rich-quick scheme

POLICE investigating the multi-million dollar collapse of a get-rich-quick scheme controlled by soldiers and police officers have unearthed credible information which points to deep ties to known criminal gangs which are seeking new means to launder ill-gotten proceeds of crime.

Intelligence reports obtained by Sunday Newsday identifies the key players involved, both in the protective services and the criminal underworld, and the wide expanse of their operation which now threatens to destabilise the economy by creating an alternative banking system for poor and vulnerable people. One senior banker, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the current pandemic which has left many jobless and businesses on the brink of collapse has created the perfect opportunity to unleash the criminal scheme as people were desperate to survive and willing to invest their savings for almost unbelievable returns. The Prime Minister said on Saturday that he intends to learn more about the claims that police and soldiers are under investigation at "an important national security meeting on Monday."

He was responding to a question from Sunday Newsday about the probe during a virtual media briefing held by the Ministry of Health to give an update on how the measures adopted by the Government to suppress the spread of covid19 were working. Rowley said he needed to learn more about the matter and whether the financial pitfall was legitimate or illegitimate and would be in a better position to comment after the national security meeting.

Sunday Newsday sent WhatsApp messages to Minister of National Security Stuart Young, Chief of Defence Staff Air Commodore Darryl Daniel and Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith seeking comment. In response, Griffith said while he could not comment on any current investigation he could confirm that the police have discovered a system whereby criminal elements have been using a "Ponzi scheme as a front to allow a heavy degree of money laundering of proceeds from drug trafficking and other illegal acts by gangs." Griffith said the police have identified members of the protective services who are helping these criminal gangs "wash their money."

There was no response from Daniel nor Young.

Money gone before financial unit steps in

A Ponzi scheme is commonly referred to as a fraudulent investment scam promising high rates of return with little risk to investors. It generates returns for early investors by encouraging them to bring in new investors. It is similar to a pyramid scheme which is based on using funds from new investors to pay earlier investors. The confidential information obtained by Sunday Newsday follows a police operation in La Horquetta last week where $22 million was seized from the home of a soldier after officers responded to a report where scores of people were gathered outside the house waiting on payments.

But even before the Financial Investigations Bureau ­– the arm of the police service which investigates cases involving possible money laundering and offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act, and the recently approved laws which call on people to explain their wealth – was called in officers returned the money and released the suspects.

Investigators will have the unenviable task of identifying legitimate from illegitimate funds and whether the officer who authorised the return of the money and the suspects acted on their own. Investigators also have the challenge that many of the investors have receipts for their investments and the soldier who ran the operation is reportedly a licensed money lender and had authorisation from his seniors to engage in that type of activity.

PCA investigates police link claims

A separate investigation by the Police Complaints Authority is now taking place into that incident and several officers have been identified as being responsible for authorising the release of the suspects and money. They can face possible disciplinary offences or worse aiding and abetting a criminal offence.

Speaking at the post-Cabinet press conference last Wednesday, the national security minister said he was concerned by the number of people who were investing in the so-called sou sous seeking significant returns and warned that if it looks too good to be true, it usually is not. In the past few weeks, several people have complained of losing their investments after a number of pyramid schemes collapsed and the administrators went missing with their money. Both the Central Bank and the TT Securities and Exchange Commission have warned unsuspecting people of the risks involved in such get-rich-quick schemes.

Police are expecting a violent fall-out as gangs demand full returns on their investments and have main players under surveillance. Intelligence reports identified key leaders in Rasta City gang based in Sea Lots, Beetham, and a breakaway faction, Anybody Gets It, led by a gang leader who has established a base in Maloney, as some of the main people involved in money laundering proceeds from drug trafficking, illegal quarry operations, human trafficking, gun smuggling, prostitution, extortion, illegal gambling and several other criminal operations.

Police protection for stash houses

The report claimed that key members from the gangs have been seen visiting people who have been operating sou sous across the country making several deposits and several senior police and defence force personnel have benefited from significant payouts. Information also suggested that police have benefited from early payouts in exchange to provide protection and security for stash houses where millions of dollars are kept under 24-hour guard. In some instances, officers are paid as much as $2,000 a day for a 12-hour shift and police patrol around the premises frequently for a separate sum, the report stated. The rank and number of personnel reportedly involved in the criminal operation are significant from the report and police are now building separate cases against each officer. This includes tracking their recent deposits, purchases and obtaining production orders to inspect their financial records, a reliable source familiar with the investigation told Sunday Newsday.

Sea Lots gang leader Cedric "Burkie" Burke was a suspect in the criminal scheme before his recent death from covid19 complications. Several of his cohorts are also named in the report. Among the investment opportunities being offered by the gangs are a deposit of $3,500 for $28,000 in return, a deposit of $10,000 for a return of $56,000 and a deposit of $15,000 for a return on $100,000, according to the intelligence report. In one instance, police said one investor purchased a Toyota Prado, usually valued at over $750,000, in cash and Arima house for $1.8 million.

Police have also uncovered a cash-in-transit operation which takes money from a police station in the East to the Teteron barracks, in Chaguaramas. They have also received information that some substantial deposits have been made to one foreign-based commercial bank and have security footage of underworld figures and sou sou operators on the premises.

'Great is DSS'

With respect to the police action which disrupted the Drug Sou Sou (DSS) in La Horquetta, there has been outrage on social media over the police action and criticism against the CoP and the Special Operations Response Team which carried out the raid. There have also been several actions taken by residents calling for the police to stop harassing the administrators of DSS and cult-like candlelight processions in the community and chants of "Great is DSS" a refrain which closely resembles the campaign slogan of the ruling PNM.

Calls and messages sent to La Horquetta/Talparo MP Foster Cummings were not answered. Residents who have openly expressed their anger over the police action claim the CoP was targeting poor, black people at the behest of bankers and big business and say the opportunities created by the sou sou helped reduce crime in the known hotspot.