CoP has 'faith, trust' in ACIB despite move to Office of Attorney General

POLICE Commissioner Allister Guevarro says he does not believe the relocation of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Bureau (ACIB) to the Office of the Attorney General, six years after it was moved to prevent possible political interference, will affect the hunt for corruption.

The government made the decision over the weekend as part of the changes to some ministers’ responsibilities.

It was left out of the initial gazetted changes and only mentioned in a subsequent erratum.

The erratum in the TT Gazette (Extraordinary), dated October 5, noted the ACIB should have been published as a government department under the AG’s Office.

The initial changes gazetted on October 4, shifted some organisations and state-owned entities to other ministries in what Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar described as a “natural fit.”

The erratum notice said the ACIB was omitted from the assignment of responsibility for the office of the AG in the initial notice, and should have been published in the amended schedule.

It added, “The error is regretted.”

Asked for a response, Guevarro noted the ACIB’s relocation is a matter outside the TT Police Service’s (TTPS) purview.

“While the ACIB previously operated under the TTPS following its 2019 reassignment, its current placement reflects a policy decision made at the executive level.”

Guevarro added regardless of where the unit is functioning from, police remain committed to supporting all national anti-corruption efforts.

“As always, we stay focused on our mandate of hunting criminals and it doesn’t matter where the camp of the ACIB is located, as I have all faith and trust in the ability of the officers located in that department, to continue the hunt for corruption.”

Officials mum on move

The ACIB was moved to the TT Police Service's purview in 2019 after calls by Director of Public Prosecution Roger Gaspard and TT Transparency Institute (TTTI) for the change.

The issue was first raised by Gaspard during an interview with a daily newspaper in January 2019.

Gaspard told the Trinidad Express the ACIB should be a department of the TTPS to protect its integrity and ensure there is no political interference during the investigative process.

TTTI, in a statement later that month, said it believed this move was “necessary if the ACIB is to properly address corruption in the public and private sectors without any challenge, perceived or real, to its impartiality and independence.”

It added public confidence in the ACIB’s operations is “paramount” if the Bureau is to succeed in its mandate.

Then-minister of national security Stuart Young, speaking at a post-cabinet media briefing in February 2019, told journalists the government discussed the issue shortly after Gaspard raised it and had settled on a position.

“If the DPP feels that way, let us just transfer it out.”

He added the unit was moved to avoid the possibility of political interference in its investigations.

“The sole reason for doing this is that we do not want to allow and we are seeing on the horizon persons utilising this nefarious and nebulous argument really, that there has been political interference into our process.”

Young emphasised, with the ACIB under the TTPS’s remit, there would be minimum connection between the bureau and the government since there will be no reliance on government resources for investigations.

He explained the police will be totally responsible and it eliminated the need for government involvement when the bureau was pursuing investigations into public officials and corruption.

The goal of the move was also to ensure the ACIB worked as part of the TTPS, rather than as a separate body, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of corruption investigations in TT.

The decision was backed by then commissioner of police Gary Griffith who said he issued a recommendation for the ACIB to be placed under the TTPS as part of its restructurng and modernisation process.

He ted shifting it to the TTPS would “place the ACIB where it is most appropriate.”

Last month it was revealed the ACIB was being forced to move from its offices at Tower C of the International Waterfront Complex to accommodate the Ministry of Homeland Security.

The ministry was fang space constraints sharing the former national security building at Temple Court, Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, with the Ministry of Defence.

The ACIB shared the offices on level 20 of the building with the TTPS’s legal department and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

Newsday asked Persad-Bissessar what led to the decision, and if she was worried that it sent the wrong signal to the population regarding the government’s stance against corruption and white-collar crime.

However, up till publication she did not respond.

Newsday asked Legal Affairs Minister Saddam Hosein for his thoughts on the move but he said Persad-Bissessar had warned them to "stay in our lane" and directed any questions to AG John Jeremie.

Calls and WhatsApp messages to Jeremie, Griffith, Young, Gaspard and former AG Faris Al Rawi for comment all went unanswered.

Newsday also e-mailed TTTI head Donna Christine-Ann Jack-Hill at around 5.30 pm but up until time of publication, she had not yet responded.