TTCB lawyers deny funding, spending impropriety

FOLLOWING allegations of overspending and misuse of funds, lawyers of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) attempted to clear the air on funding given by the government and their supporting arms at a media conference held at the board’s office in Balmain, Couva, on June 4.

Attorneys Henry Chase and Navindra Ramnanan represented the TTCB at the media conference. President of the TTCB Azim Bassarath and other executive members did not attend the media conference.

“We appear today on behalf of the TTCB to address recent public allegations published in the press,” Chase said. “Allegations that are not only categorically false but also deeply damaging to the integrity of an institution that has served TT’s sporting community for decades.”

The TTCB said from 2014-2022 it received $22,579,305.20 in funding, comprising $12,460,000 from the National Gas Company for programmes, $7,319,305.20 from the Sports Company and $2,800,000 from the Sport and Culture Fund. The board said it is required and has complied with submitting copies of its annual audited financial reports to the Sports Company and the Office of the Prime Minister’s Sports and Culture Fund.

Chase and Ramnanan spent most of the media briefing denying claims made recently in articles published by Guardian Media Ltd.

Comparisons were given throughout about the figures stated by the media house and what the TTCB said was actually spent. “The articles in question failed to provide the TTCB with a fair and timely opportunity to respond...on incomplete or misleading information in our respective legal view,” said Chase.

Chase, not speaking about a specific media house, said, “At this time we are reviewing all legal options including formal complaints and potential defamation proceedings. The TTCB remains committed to transparency and accountability, but it will not stand silently in the face of reckless and irresponsible journalism nor trial by the press. We welcome the opportunity to set the record straight today.”

TTCB provided the media in attendance with printouts of what Guardian Media Ltd reported compared to what TTCB claimed was spent. On May 16, Guardian reported that over the last six years between 2019 and 2024, the TTCB received over $30 million in taxpayers’ money through the Office of the Prime Minister Sport and Culture Fund (OPMSCF) and the Sport Company of TT (SporTT).

The TTCB said the board received a total of $10,553,708.50 from the OPMSCF and SporTT during that period.

In that same May 16 Guardian article, it was stated that TTCB received $43 million in state funding between 2014 and 2022. Chase, reading from the same printout given to the media, denied that was the amount the TTCB received. The TTCB lawyer said it was actually $22,579,305.20.

Documents were also emailed to Newsday supporting TTCB’s figures.

Another issue the TTCB raised was a figure printed by Guardian Media Ltd in a May 25 article.

It stated, “The board received $14.8 million more than its original allocations between 2019 and 2023. The TTCB was, at first, allocated $13.4 million, but eventually received $28.2 million in taxpayers’ money.”

In response to that, Chase said the TTCB received $5,251,919.52.

The Guardian also reported that Bassarath wrote a letter to the Fraud Squad to stop an investigation. In that letter, Bassarath said civil proceedings had been initiated against the ex-TTCB employee to recover the funds

On May 8, the Special Investigation Unit executed a search warrant at the TTCB office in Couva, where documents were taken including financial statements.

In February 2024, former treasurer of the board Kiswah Chaitoo was removed from his position after revealing that funds were misused, totalling $500,000 over five years. The police intervention was a result of those findings. Another employee resigned because of the alleged misuse of funds.

The TTCB lawyers did not admit or deny that Bassarath wrote the police

Chase said “the board was advised that it is better you seek remedies of restitution to collect the $500,000 against the alleged person who was employed by the board on the alleged funds. In fact, a matter was prepared and filed by other attorneys representing the board to institute in such proceedings for such funds.”

Chase, who is also the chairman of the Premier League Committee of the TTCB and a board member, said the police must be allowed to fulfil their duties. “In law, the president of the TTCB cannot tell the police how to do their job and to stop the investigation. That could be incriminating to himself as though you try to pervert the course of justice.”

He said the board was “very co-operative in allowing the police to execute their warrant.”

Asked for an update on the $500,000 and if the funds would ever be retrieved, Chase said, “It was not filed or prepared seeking restitution of the $500,000. If there is a court document to be filed or filed, I did not see the court copy.”

The TTCB lawyers continued to deny claims of wrongdoing. “The TTCB denies any and all allegations of fraud or financial impropriety against the board of directors as well as the executive of the TTCB. These claims are presented without evidence and without proper verification, are baseless.”

Ramnanan also took umbrage with a Newsday article published on June 3, 2025 titled “TTCB members muzzled.” The article quoted a member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, complaining that members were not allowed to express their grievances at a recent meeting.

“We wish to say this is categorically denied...but the board at this time is considering its legal options in relation to that article. As we speak the president of the board is at the our offices with another member of the legal team in relation to instructions concerning that article.”

Calls have also been made for the TTCB to conduct a forensic audit. Asked directly if the TTCB would agree to one, Chase said, “Remember the TTCB is a non-profit organisation. The TTCB is committed to an audit. The issue of a forensic audit was canvassed in a lower court and that issue was under appeal et cetera and is for consideration...The TTCB has done audits and is committed to an audit.”

Probed more about a forensic audit, Chase said, “You can’t force me on a question. I have given you an answer legally.”