PM: State did not lose Miami case

THE Prime Minister said the loss of an appeal involving the Attorney General Reginald Armour in the US earlier this week is not a loss for the State as the substantive case is still ongoing.

Answering questions in Parliament on Friday Dr Rowley said the state is actively engaged in a matter that is alive and well and he is “looking forward to a successful outcome.”

On Wednesday, Judges Eric Hendon, Monica Gordo and Alexander Bokor, sitting in the Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal, affirmed the disqualification of Armour, and Sequor Law, from representing TT in a multi-million-dollar civil asset forfeiture case, linked to the construction of the Piarco Airport terminal building 22 years ago.

Circuit Court judge Reemberto Diaz last year approved a motion to disqualify Armour and Sequor Law from representing the Government on the grounds of conflict of interest.

The motion before Diaz was filed by attorneys for former government minister Brian Kuei Tung – whom Armour once represented in TT – to strike out the lawsuit and disqualify the AG and the law firm.

Armour, who appointed his predecessor Faris Al-Rawi to represent the State in the matter after he was removed, appealed the decision and lost. The US Appeal Court upheld that the entire lawsuit need not be dismissed.