Young sides with Leonce after he cleared air on UK business deal

PRIME Minister Stuart Young says he is satisfied with the explanation given by Housing Minister Adrian Leonce about a business link he had with a person with alleged criminal ties in the UK.

Young made this statement to the media at Belmont Secondary School on March 25, after participating in a nomination day dry run held by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) for candidates contesting the Port of Spain North/St Ann's West constituency in the April 28 general election.

Young is the incumbent MP and PNM's candidate for that constituency. He referred to a statement released on Monday by Leonce on the matter.

"You would have seen a statement from the honourable Adrian Leonce yesterday. I perused his statement very carefully," Young said.

Asked if he spoke with Leonce directly, Young said, "Yes. When I saw the newspaper article I did have a conversation with him. The statement is in line with what he told me."

He added, "What we have seen is his explanation that there was the registration of a company. We have seen why it ended up with that individual and immediately upon being known the action that he took which is to come off of the company."

Young said he was told the company never did any kind of trading.

He did not comment on claims by Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, at the launch of the UNC's general election campaign in San Fernando on March 25, that he (Young) knew about this business before Leonce was appointed Housing Minister on March 17.

Young was sworn in as prime minister on that day.

He said, "This is a season where you will get a lot of allegations. You will get a lot of propaganda."

Young added, "So what I saw in his statement yesterday. That's his assurance as he's giving not only to me, the PM, but the population. And I believe that in Trinidad, he has provided his statement, so we go with that."

In his Monday statement, Leonce said, "For the record, I categorically deny any involvement whatsoever in any illegal activity, either directly or indirectly,"

Leonce said after deciding not to return to electoral politics, he decided to revive a business interest in the UK which he was working on forming, prior to entering politics in 2015.

He said a friend put him in touch with a person in the UK who assisted in forming the company and having it registered in September 2023.

At that time, Leonce was Minister in the Ministry of Housing which was then headed by Camille Robinson-Regis who is now the attorney general.

Leonce said in his statement that in July 2024, he was informed that the man with whom he was listed jointly as a director of his (Leonce) UK company, was the subject of an investigation, "unbeknownst to me."

Leonce said he immediately contacted the man and told him to terminate the company, "and that I will be severing all connections with him.

"The company was terminated on July 17, 2024. I have no affiliation with the individual other than this and know nothing of his business dealings or other activities."

COPS: NO PROBE

ON MP LEONCE

At a police press briefing on March 25, reporters asked if the TTPS was investigating Leonce over allegations of his business ties to a suspect in the UK.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Curt Simon said he made calls to various departments in the Police Service and was told no active investigation was ongoing.

Asked if the TTPS can launch their own investigation based on what has been reported in the media, Simon said, "We have been in a similar situation before. Launching an investigation will call for a pre-investigation.

"We would have to determine if there is something to investigate. We have to determine if there is a crime. Those are the fundamentals to any investigation."

Simon said verification would need to be done. However, he did not want to promise the public that there will be an investigation into the matter.

"What we can say is the TTPS is a responsible entity and there is something out there in public and we are looking at it."

On Monday, at the UNC meeting at Naparima College, Moonilal slammed Young for showing a lack of judgment in appointing Leonce as a government minister.

"Mr Leonce’s actions reveal an alarming lack of due care and attention and raise concerns about whether he has taken that absence of standard and competence to his ministerial office."

Moonilal said, "Equally, the prime minister must state whether he has confidence in someone with such a reckless approach...administering a critical multi-billion sector such as housing and urban development."

On the nomination day dry run, Young said all 41 PNM candidates were briefed on March 24 about what they had to do and he expected they would participate in this exercise in their respective constituencies.

He added it was instructive the PNM is well-organised in this regard while the Opposition was not.

On March 24 in San Fernando, UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the party will present its candidates on a phased basis but all will be announced before nomination day.

Young said it is also noteworthy the UNC is not contesting all 41 constituencies.

Referring to the UNC's election launch, he added, "The nation was looking on to see who our competitors were. We still don't know who they are but that doesn't faze me in the least."

The UNC, Young continued, seems to have great difficulty in providing their candidates to the population. To date, the UNC has announced 22 candidates. (
With reporting by ENRIQUE RUPERT)