No steps are to be taken yet to extradite two local businessmen who are wanted by the United States to face a total of 84 criminal charges arising out of the Piarco Airport development project, a High Court judge yesterday declared.
By Darren BahawJustice Nolan Bereaux, sitting in the Port of Spain Fifth Civil Court at the Hall of Justice, made the order, shortly before reserving his decision on a lawsuit filed by Steve Ferguson and Ishwar Galbaransingh challenging their extradition.
The judge said the arguments in the case were interesting and hoped to give his ruling by April. Three leading British attorneys were involved in the case, two representing the businessmen, Edward Fitzgerald and Keir Starmer, and another, John Lewis, defended both the Attorney General and the Chief Magistrate.
Ferguson and Galbaransingh are challenging the decision of AG John Jeremie to commence extradition proceedings against them in July 2006, as well as the decision of Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls to issue warrants for their arrests in relation to the United States charges.
Both men are already charged in the local courts with two separate sets of criminal charges relating to the airport project and even though DPP Geoffrey Henderson discontinued charges relating to two main contracts on Wednesday, they claim they are being forced to defend themselves in two jurisdictions on charges based on the same allegations.
As he continued the State's response, Lewis referred to correspondence written by the lead US attorney assigned to prosecute Ferguson and Galbaransingh.
The prosecutor gave an update relating to the case in the US, saying that all of the other defendants, including four United States citizens, one Aruban, one Colombian and a US corporation, had pleaded guilty and were all willing to testify against the two men.
The prosecutor said the US now had an overwhelming case against both men and alleged that Ferguson was now creating false and fraudulent documents to obstruct his US trial, which had been scheduled to commence November 13, 2006.
The United States, the prosecutor stated, was ready to proceed against the two businessmen as soon as they arrive, as Lewis drew reference to pending charges against both men which have been dragging on in the local magistrate's court for the past four and a half years.
In his letter, the United States prosecutor, Richard Gregorie, said the charges against Ferguson and Galbaransingh involved multi-jurisdictional conspiracy, in which the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago and several banks in Miami were defrauded and therefore the impact of the alleged criminal activity was felt both in Trinidad and Tobago, Miami and in the Bahamas, where the money was passed through secret accounts.
Lewis contended there were no local charges against the men which overlapped with the charges in the United States, since the Director of Public Prosecutor had discontinued everything in relation to contract packages nine and 13.
