Jack made up his own $$ rules

Persons with knowledge of the situation and sensitive and long sought documents obtained by this newspaper reveal that Warner controlled a slew of official and secret bank accounts in the names of key football bodies, specifically, football’s ruling body for North and Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf), the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) and LOC Germany 2006 Ltd.

A trusted and influential football figure considered above reproach, Warner maintained a tightly controlled power structure that he put in place which some say is still in force today.

No questions were asked and no explanations were provided, either to the executive staff that managed the affairs of the various football bodies or to the accountants and auditors who signed off the financial statements without qualification.

His accountant-in-chief and general man of business, Kenny Rampersad, a certified accountant of 3A Queen’s Park West, Port of Spain, facilitated and covered up the deceit.

He was also the beneficiary of all of the accounting briefs, from all of the football bodies, and in some cases, he was both bookkeeper and auditor.

Investigations by the Express found that Warner funnelled tens of millions of public and private sector money into parallel bank accounts, often held at the same branch as the official bank accounts.

For instance, the Republic Bank account on Tragarete Road, Port of Spain in which disgraced ex-AFC (Asian Football Confederation) president Mohamed bin Hammam wire transferred US$250,000 to Warner in 2008, was not known to CFU officials.

CFU officials had knowledge of only two accounts, a TT-dollar and US-dollar at that bank. All of the CFU accounts at that branch, official and secret, were controlled by Warner.

In the case of the secret CFU account, the International Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), found evidence of commingling of private Warner money and CFU funds.

In the long-fought legal battle with the Soca Warriors for their fair share of earnings derived from the 2006 World Cup, TTFF’s former top officials, Oliver Camps and Richard Groden, claimed to have knowledge of only three bank accounts for the national football federation.

Warner’s frontmen claimed to have little knowledge about much of anything of the financial affairs of the football federation, including where over $100 million in public and private sector money has disappeared to.

According to Camps, the former president of more than ten years, and Groden, who is still the substantive general secretary of the TTFF, Warner was the man in charge.

The two, in affidavits given to a Case Management Conference (ICMC), said the Federation’s special adviser Warner managed the accounts and at all material times had control and possession of all of the Federation’s financial records and information.

Warner was also an authorised signatory to TTFF’s bank accounts and had exclusive control of the agent company, LOC Germany 2006, which was used as a conduit to move tens of millions of sponsorship money from the Federation’s bank accounts.

The agent company was a Warner-Rampersad creation.

And while the evidence shows that Camps and Groden facilitated cash transfers in the tens of millions of dollars to Warner and his private companies and LOC Germany 2006, they maintained that they knew little or nothing and that the court should look to Warner for answers to where the World Cup millions have gone.

Warner, for his part, told the court he had handed over everything he had in his possession after a thorough search and was unable to provide further assistance.

The Sir David Simmons Integrity Committee findings reported an eyewitness account of documents being shredded at his Concacaf office command centre.

Warner did not tell the court about the more than ten TTFF bank accounts to which he was an authorised signatory or the fact that any one person to those accounts could write a cheque for substantial millions.

Included in the list of 13 TTFF bank accounts found by this newspaper, four are not in the books of TTFF.

The four off-book bank accounts in which Warner is a signatory are:

• Account number 1681812, a business chequing account at First Citizens, Corner of Park and Henry Streets
• Account number 1687386, also business chequing at First Citizens, Corner of Park and Henry Streets
• Account number 000 213 059 573, a USD savings at Republic Bank, Long Circular Mall
• Account number 290 442 973 501, a current account at Republic Bank, Long Circular Mall

The other accounts not disclosed to the court are:

• 560 153 935 901—a current account at Republic Bank, Long Circular Mall
• 110 001 636 001—another current account at Republic Bank, Long Circular Mall
• 1506975—US savings at First Citizens, Corner of Park and Henry Streets
• 1506976—business chequing at First Citizens, Corner of Park and Henry Streets

Account disclosed:

Republic Bank West Mall, account number 10121.

Other TTFF accounts, status unknown are:

• account 00001
• account 20508
• account 50100
• account 20500

It is not known whether the CFU account—420504421401—at Republic Bank on Tragarete Road in which he collected a $500,000 cheque payment from UNC financier Krishna Lalla is the same one bin Hammam made the US$250,000 payment to.

Warner also has an account in the name of one of his private corporations, Jamad Ltd at Republic Bank, Tragarete Road. That account number is 2904548233801.

He also has private accounts in his name—Austin Jack Warner— at First Citizens, Queen’s Park West, Port of Spain, and the unregistered entity the Express wrote about on Sunday, Centre of Excellence/Indoor Facility, also at First Citizens, Queen’s Park West.

He also has parallel Concacaf and Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence accounts at First Citizens, the state bank which facilitated a near US$8 million in unauthorised borrowings to Concacaf, Warner and two of his private companies.

More on Warner’s financial dealings on Thursday.

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Jack gives up UNC chair too but says: I’m not done yet
By Radhica Sookraj (Guardian).

Jack Warner blanked the People’s Partnership’s Monday night forum in Siparia last night. Instead, he opted to spend most of his day yesterday consoling his constituents with assurances that his resignation as minister and UNC party chairman did not mean an end to his political life. Speaking to reporters and members of his Chaguanas West constituency executive at his constituency office in Chaguanas last night, however, Warner admitted he resigned because of internal pressure.

He also said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s response to the Concacaf probe proved to be the catalyst for his resignation. “This is the first country in the world where a minister has resigned because of internal pressures for an external issue. I have never seen such a concerted effort to get rid of one man,” Warner said. Asked by whom he was pressured to resign, Warner said: “Who could put a gun in my back to resign? Not even my wife or my children could do that.

“I decided to resign because I knew I had become objectionable in some quarters in the party and outside. I couldn’t fix outside and not fix inside, so having resigned as minister of national security to address the problem outside, I resigned as chairman to address the problems inside.” Warner, however, said the double resignation could mean the start of a new political life but he did not elaborate on that.

Still, he said, he decided to resign after he read a newspaper report that Persad-Bissessar was stunned by the revelations of the Concacaf probe presented by Barbadian Sir David Simmons at a Concacaf congress in Panama last week. “I felt that if she was stunned before speaking to me then it doesn’t make sense. That was the catalyst for my resignation.” Warner also said the Concacaf report was spurious.

He added: “I resigned as minister of national security because I felt there has been for the past five weeks a concerted effort by agencies and people to get Jack Warner. “I felt enough was enough. That thing about Concacaf and FIFA is so spurious. It has been in the public domain for God knows how long. There was some plan to get me so I felt let me take in front before in front take me. “My resignations will enable me to say much more outside of the Cabinet than I can say inside of the Cabinet.”

Warner also noted that he harboured no bitterness for the UNC or the Prime Minister. “Our relationship remains cordial,” he added. However, when asked why he was not attending the UNC meeting, Warner replied: “Me! Go to a UNC meeting in Penal? I am the ex-chairman of the UNC, I am just Jo Bloke, Jack Warner, a floor member. If they have a congress I will attend but I am just a member.” He added: “I am not bitter and I am not angry. I have learnt in life that what goes around comes around.”

Warner said he planned to speak to his constituents at a meeting in Pierre Road, Chaguanas, on Thursday night and in Parliament on Friday. While Warner spoke, several passing motorists shouted out support for him. “Doh study them Jack!” one man shouted, to which Warner responded: “Peace and love! Keep the faith.” Warner said he did not want anybody to form any lobby group, in reference to his constituents’ decision to form a group called “Bring Jack Back.”.

He said he would never undermine the Government and would continue to help his successor Emmanuel George and Khadijah Ameen, who is now interim UNC chairman. He said in the midst of the scandal, only some of his Cabinet colleagues, including Fuad Khan, Fazal Karim, Clifton De Coteau and Winston “Gypsy” Peters, had contacted him. Despite that, he said, he was heartened by the gratitude and support showed by all the heads of security and his constituents who lauded him for his accomplishments.