Acting DPP: Lawsuit threatens to derail complex quarry probe

The acting Director of Public Prosecutions says a lawsuit filed by five companies of the Warner Group and 12 people charged with illegal mining is seeking to interfere with an ongoing complex criminal investigation and the pending criminal charges.

Acting DPP Joan Honore-Paul, SC, made the statement in an affidavit opposing a constitutional motion and a demand for the return of quarry equipment, cellphones and property seized by police in two raids in Sangre Grande and Wallerfield over the last nine months.

Honore-Paul is acting as DPP as the substantive officeholder, Roger Gaspard, SC, is on vacation.

The matter came up before Justice Frank Seepersad on July 17 at a virtual hearing.

Seepersad expressed concern over the police’s continued occupation of a multi-million-dollar aggregate processing plant in Wallerfield.

He made the comment during the hearing of a July 10 lawsuit filed by Warns Quarry Co Ltd, Warner Construction and Sanitation Ltd, Inez Investments Ltd, Pres-T-Con 2021 Ltd, Allcrete Ltd, and 12 people, including Aluko Ato Warner, one of the sons of company founder Allan Warner, against the Attorney General and the DPP.

The judge allowed the AG until July 24 to submit evidence and the DPP until August 5 to submit any additional evidence. He insisted on hearing the matter during the court’s vacation and plans to give his ruling by August 20, even though the DPP’s lead attorney will be in Europe then, celebrating his wedding anniversary.

The lawsuit disclosed that the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries had approved an interim aggregate processing licence to Keon Warner, the CEO of Warns Quarry Co Ltd, on June 18, days after a June 5 application and letter dated May 22, to operate a wash plant at Moonan Road, Agua Santa, Wallerfield.

The PS said, “Given the importance and critical role played by Warns Quarry Co Ltd with respect to the supply of sand and gravel aggregate for highway construction and for the local market, you are conditionally authorised to undertake mineral processing operations, pending the processing of your application for a Processing Licence. This permission is valid until December 31, 2025.”

Commissioner of State Lands Paula Drakes granted Warns Quarry Co Ltd permission on May 20 to occupy 16.6 hectares of state lands at Wallerfield. Both agreements took place after the police raid on May 2.

Farai Hove Masaisai, lead attorney for the Warners, faced an uphill battle as he tried unsuccessfully to convince the judge the DPP had no say in whether the court could grant injunctive relief to direct the police to vacate his client’s premises and order the police to return an excavator, trucks and other quarry equipment as well as cellphones confiscated during the May 2 raid.

Ian Benjamin, SC, who appeared for the Office of the DPP, argued he was surprised by the argument since his client was named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

“The bizarreness is self-evident,” he said.

Masaisai argued he had no issue with the DPP’s responding to the substantive issues raised in the constitutional motion and suggested the Attorney General could represent the DPP’s interest during the hearing for the interim reliefs.

Benjamin said the case before the court touches on an active police investigation and it made no legal sense to prevent the DPP from being heard.

He said the acting DPP had filed an affidavit on July 17 in response to some of the claims made by Keon Warner, one of the directors of five companies identified in the lawsuit.

Honore-Paul said, “The investigations are moving efficiently and promptly, having regard to the number of entities and individuals under enquiry, the various numbers of transactions which are being investigated, the nature of the investigation, the complexity and time-consuming nature of the surveillance and analysis of the offences being investigated, the co-ordination of many branches within the TTPS and the need for legal advice and guidance from the Office of the DPP, (which) also needs to be sufficiently briefed in order to provide the necessary advice. It is important that the investigation is not rushed so that the Office of the DPP has the benefit of a thorough, fair, competent, accurate and objective investigation in making its prosecutorial decisions.”

She said the lawsuit seeks to challenge “ongoing prosecution and investigations into serious and complex allegations of crime.” She said the items seized by the police are evidence in the ongoing criminal cases relative to offences under the State Lands Act and the Minerals Act, and the evidence suggests a realistic prospect of conviction of the offences.

Jason Mootoo, SC, who led the case for the AG, said it was an “unassailable proposition” for the DPP not to be heard, as there were active criminal cases before the court and the items confiscated by the police were evidence in those cases. He said returning the evidence could prove a handicap to the prosecution and undermine the state’s case.

Mootoo argued that the police had been stationed at the wash plant in Wallerfield because it was an active crime scene and the officers were on site to preserve the evidence. He did not rule out the possibility of concessions being made to allow the owners access.Seepersad ruled there was no prejudice in allowing the DPP to be heard on the injunctive reliefs sought by the Warners. He said one of the excavators had been seized since December 2, 2023, and the delay in filing the court action did not support the argument for an urgent hearing. He did not accept the suggestion that the AG had the authority to represent the interest of the DPP in relation to the prosecution of criminal offences.

“They are two streams that ought not to be crossed,” he said.

Background

Four men were held for illegal quarrying after a police operation at an area known as Five Acres, Vega de Oropouche, Sangre Grande, on December 2.

Quarry manager Willinsque Tobias, Aaron Neptune and excavator operators Rudy Sahai and Ahmeed David were each granted $50,000 bail after they were charged by officers of the Multi-Agency Task Force led by ASP Leon Haynes.

A 40-tonne excavator and a 20-tonne excavator, among other equipment, were seized during the police operation and taken to the regiment’s Camp Cumuto for safekeeping.

One of the excavators has since been returned to Massy Machinery Ltd after a ruling by the magistrate.

The men are to reappear before a Sangre Grande magistrate on August 9.

On May 2, eight men were charged with processing minerals without a licence after police raided a wash plant on Moonan Road, off Agua Santa Road, Wallerfield.

Cpl Terrence Nowbutt jointly charged Aluko Ato Warner, Robert Wilson, Reuben Maprangala, Ricky Joseph, Corey Charles, Deon George, Shastri Mahadeo and Kimal Williams with processing minerals without a licence. They were granted bail of $75,000.

On July 4, Allan Warner, founder of the Warner Group, was charged with processing minerals without a licence and released on $100,000 bail.

These nine accused are scheduled to appear before an Arima magistrate on July 19.