7 cops accused of extortion discharged owing to police failures

SEVEN police officers accused of extorting a group of Sangre Grande businessmen were discharged by Master Sarah de Silva of the High Court because the police failed to comply with court directives, including the timely preparation and prosecution of the case.

De Silva discharged the seven – Insp Dayal Ramlakhan, Cpl Shaheed Khan, PCs Davanan Ragbir, Macai Joseph, Cleon Smith, Jason Osouna and SRP PC Rayon Charles – on November 18.

The charges were dismissed under Section 3.5(2) of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2023, which empowers the court to take such action when procedural non-compliance disrupts the justice process. The rules were designed to streamline the judicial process and prevent delays.

De Silva had issued instructions to the police in preparation for the case. These were disregarded and no explanation was given for their non-compliance. A stand-in police prosecutor was unable to offer any explanation or respond to the defence attorneys’ application for the case to be dismissed.

De Silva had given directions for submitting the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and filing and disclosing witness statements. These had to be done by November 8 and November 15, in time for the November 18 status hearing.

None of the police complainants – the officers who charged the seven – were at the virtual hearing.

The Professional Standards Bureau charged the seven officers in April 2023 with misbehaviour in public office by corruptly appropriating money – over $100,000 seized as an exhibit during a police exercise.

A statement from the police when the seven were charged said they were accused of multiple offences.

The charges were laid after PSB investigated a social media video which allegedly showed police officers seizing cash at a Sangre Grande business place, in the Eastern Division, a release from the police service said.

They faced an assortment of charges of corruptly appropriating several sums which were seized as an exhibit during a police exercise and conspiring to pervert the course of justice by knowingly making false statements to implicate a victim in a criminal investigation involving operating an illegal gaming house.

The police said investigations were led by Suzette Martin, now a DCP, supervised by Supt Montrichard and included ASP Birch, Insp Guy and acting Cpl Joefield.

The seven were arrested on April 24, 2023. Their arrests followed PSB investigations into allegations that business owners in the Sangre Grande district had been extorted by a group of police officers for some time.

Initially, nine officers were detained for questioning.

The Police Complaints Authority (PCA) also began a parallel probe after claims of an extortion racket involving officers were made in a social media post last month.

In a widely shared online video, a person claiming to be a retired police officer and a relative of a Sangre Grande businessman alleged that police officers had been collecting “tax” from "illegal whe whe operations" and roulette machines in the Eastern Division, and also soliciting bribes from his relative to keep his business in operation.

The relative claimed: “On a monthly basis, they will enter his business and if not given the requested amount, they will then venture to take whatever money is in the register or elsewhere."

The social media post included a telephone conversation in which a caller, alleged to have been an Inter Agency Task Force officer formerly stationed in the Eastern Division, is heard asking for $30,000 for “the boys.”

The officers were represented by Pamela Elder, SC, Russell Warner, Ulric Skerrit, Seana Baboolal, Peter Carter, Fareed Ali and Terry Boyer. Smith represented himself.