Ex-treasurer loses appeal against Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board

KISWAH Chaitoo haslost his appeal against the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board’s (TTCB) January 10 motion of no confidence moved against him, which resulted in hisremoval as treasurer on February 28 .

A 50-page judgment issued by the seven-member Supreme Appellate Committee (SAC) on December 9 found Chaitoo in “flagrant breach” of Article 27 of TTCB’s constitution, which says, “The proceedings of all documents and all meetings of the executive and of the board shall be confidential and not be disclosed to unauthorised persons.”

Ultimately, Chaitoo’s decision to share internal information with the police before the TTCB completed its internal investigations, along with his “breaching his duty of confidentiality” by providing information from an executive meeting to this newspaper on January 14, were the central reasons given by the SAC which it deemed “sufficient to ground a motion of no confidence.”

The SAC said the TTCB could not be faulted for pursuing the vote of no confidence, since it was “entitled to handle its own disciplinary regime, acted fairly in all the circumstances in formulating and passing the motion of no confidence in Chaitoo.”

The SAC comprised Justice Prakash Moosai (chairman), Samuel Saunders (deputy chairman) and members Rennie Gosine, Kent Ghisawan, Norris Ferguson, Patsy Joseph and Ammar Samaroo.

Chaitoo was elected TTCB treasurer, along with other members of the executive, on October 30, 2021.

His removal followed Chaito's discovering “an unreconciled amount of some $51,000” in TTCB’s books in August 2022. For the next year, he was unsuccessful in having the issue addressed by a TTCB employee, particularly for the period/quarter August-October 2022.

From August 2022-August 2023, Chaitoo did his own fact-finding mission and used external auditors to get a clearer understanding of TTCB’s financials for that period. This resulted in an employee's resigning in October 2023 and reportedly admitting guilt of “using cheques assigned for TTCB use for my personal expenses.”

She said her actions spanned five years at an approximate cost between $200,000 and $300,000, and that she would pay it back “over a period of time agreed to.”

Chaitoo reported the missing money to the TTCB’s accountants’ ethics committee, but also said because he was a licensed accountant, he had a responsibility to report the matter to the police. However, before doing so, he would report back to the executive.

In November 2023, at an executive retreat in Tobago, Chaitoo “was in possession of 153 cheques totalling some $548,000 which he informed police was the approximate sum misappropriated by an employee.”

At the board's December 2023 AGM, Chaitoo told the general membership  he had reported the matter to police (Fraud Squad), “of larceny by an employee,” without the executive having prior knowledge of the report.

TTCB president Azim Bassarath, in an e-mail to Chaitoo in December, deemed his decision to report the matter to the police, instead of letting the board’s internal investigation run its course, “quite regrettable and unbecoming of an executive member,” saying his actions were “not in the best interest of the board.”

On January 13, 2024, at an executive meeting, nine of the ten members (excluding Chaitoo) expressed a loss of confidence in the treasurer.

For the next 11 days, two daily newspapers published detailed reports on missing TTCB money, which included direct quotes from Chaitoo. The board asked Chaitoo to attend a special general meeting to give reasons why he disclosed confidential information to the media.

In a January 26 letter to the TTCB, the board said Chaitoo said he would be taking his complaints “directly to the members of the public,” a clear violation of Article 27.

Chaitoo also e-mailed to say his conduct was consistent with his duties as treasurer and the executive “did not have power to interrogate him.” Chaitoo was reminded of Article 27 of the constitution, via board secretary Altaf Baksh.

In February, the SAC said, “The board received a requisition signed by 16 of its members for a special general meeting of TTCB to discuss and approve a motion of no confidence in the treasurer.”

Baksh told members of this requisition to move the motion and scheduled a special general meeting for February 28, at which more than the two-thirds majority required to pass the motion voted against Chaitoo.

Through his legal team of Dinesh Rambally and Stefan Ramkissoon, Chaitoo appealed the decision and the matter was presented to the SAC.

The SAC ruling said, “As a result of the actions of Mr Chaitoo, the TTCB has suffered grave reputational damage and a loss of sponsorship, whereas Chaitoo failed to perform his duties as outlined in article 5.03 (iv) of the TTCB constitution…and that its members do express their loss of confidence” in him as treasurer.

The appeal hearing began on May 7, but was adjourned to allow the cricket board’s attorneys to file further written submissions to the committee, in response to Chaitoo’s.

Newsday tried to contact TTCB’s attorneys Navindra Ramnanan and Henry Chase for a comment, but was unsuccessful. Similarly, Chaitoo did not respond to WhatsApp messages.