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A High Court Wednesday granted Housing Minister Dr. David Lee bail in the sum of one million dollars (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) less than 24 hours after he was arrested by police on charges relating to tax exemption for parliamentarians on a luxury vehicle.

Businessman Hugh Leong Poi, who was also arrested with Lee, was also granted TT$600,000 bail.

Housing Minister Dr. David Lee

The two men appeared before Master Lisa Singh-Phillip where the minister was granted bail with one surety, while Leong Poi was granted bail with his named surety approved by the court.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad says she remains confident that the courts will ‘deliver a just result’ with respect to Lee, who along with the businessman, had been taken into custody by police on Tuesday.

‘We have respect for the courts of the land. Minister Lee was acquitted of these allegations before. Now that the charges have been relaid we have confidence in the courts to deliver a just result,’ she said in a brief statement.

On Tuesday, the police said that judicial warrants had been issued for the ‘apprehension’ of Lee and businessman Hugh Leong Poi.

The statement gave no details why the warrants were issued , but added that ‘in accordance with the legal mandate and without delay, both individuals were taken into custody by officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, and are presently undergoing standard processing procedures.

‘The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service remains committed to upholding the rule of law and executing all judicial instructions with integrity, impartiality, and procedural rigour,’ the statement said.

Opposition Leader, Pennelope Beckles, has called on Prime Minister Persad Bissessar to immediately inform the country whether Lee will continue to serve as a minister of Government while facing criminal charges.

Businessman Hugh Leong Poi stands next to the Mercedes G wagon at the center of the court case.

Prior to the April 28 general election, Lee was cleared of fraud charges related to tax exemptions on his vehicle as a parliamentarian.

Acting Chief Magistrate Christine Charles dismissed the charges of conspiracy to defraud and misbehaviour in public office after upholding a no-case submission presented by Lee’s legal team, led by Wayne Sturge and Mario Merritt.

The magistrate ruled that the prosecution presented insufficient evidence to sustain the charges or proceed to trial. She also acquitted Leong Poi of Sport Outlet Limited, who faced a joint charge with Lee for conspiracy to defraud.

In September 2022, authorities accused the pair of conspiring to defraud the state of TT$1.4 million (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) in tax revenue related to the importation of a Mercedes Benz G63 AMG, valued at over two million dollars.

The charges involved TT$293,094.02 in Value Added Tax (VAT), TT$298,650 in motor vehicle tax, and TT$824,548.62 in customs duty.

Prosecutors had alleged that Lee falsely claimed ownership of the vehicle to benefit from tax exemptions granted to MPs. The alleged offences occurred between 24 March and 8 June 2019.

Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Roger Gaspard, had appealed the acting Chief Magistrate’s ruling and according to the warrant, issued by Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas, he was of the opinion that the evidence before acting Chief Magistrate ‘was sufficient to put the said Hugh Leong Poi together with another person, on trial for conspiracy to defraud and misbehaviour in public office.

‘This is to command you forthwith to apprehend Hugh Leong Poi and to convey the said Hugh Leong Poi to the Port of Spain Prisons.and there deliver him to the keeper of the said prisons together with this warrant,’ according to the warrant that was signed by the judge on October 6.

The first physical appearance of the two men before the High Court will be scheduled once the DPP formally files the indictment, confirming the matter is proceeding to trial.

Commonwealth Secretary General, Shirley Botchwey, has held talks with President Irfaan Ali, according to a statement issued here on Wednesday.

‘During the meeting, Ms Botchwey thanked President Ali for his support during her election and for his stewardship and leadership on global issues,’ said the statemen, noting that Botchwey is visiting Guyana for the first time since her election victory on 1 April 2025.

It said that a luncheon held in her honour on Wednesday with President Ali emphasising that ‘Guyana and the Commonwealth are aligned in advancing key issues within an ever-changing and dynamic global environment, such as climate change and biodiversity; and sustainable development, particularly with a focus on women, children, and persons with disabilities’.

Botchwey was presented with a painting titled ‘The Koker’, created by local artist Merlene Ellis.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley Wednesday urged the 56-member Commonwealth grouping to led by example and demonstrate that democracy, even in the most trying times, remains the fairest and most effective path to peace, prosperity, and human fulfillment.

Delivering the 68th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference Emilia Lifaka Memorial Lecture, Prime Minister Mottley said democracies everywhere now are under pressure, some from debt and distrust, from division amplified by digital rage and from sheer fatigue.

‘Yet each week offers reminders of why we endure the arguments and why we keep repairing the house. The French crisis shows the cost of fragmentation. The recognition of a Palestinian state shows the demand for conscience in statecraft.

‘You may agree. You may disagree. But the point is the same. In democracies the decision and the dissent can live under the same roof. That is why democracy remains the fairest path we have to peace and to dignity,’ she said.

Mottley said it is important to work together with renewed purpose toward a future where democracy thrives, within borders and in a shared global community.

‘Let us move forward hand in hand, with courage and conviction, to build a Commonwealth where democracy is not a privilege of the few, but the birthright of all,’ she said, acknowledging that ‘this is not simply the work of government with the work of all of our citizens, and those of us will know better must guide and prepare to allow those who may not yet be awakened to this reality, the opportunity to join us in this battle that truly will determine whether we progress or whether we regress into the domination of countries and individuals by a few.

‘It is against this backdrop that we address how we secure the rights and aspirations of our people within the boundaries of our nations. How we protect them from the excessive power of any executive or any parliament. How we build democracies that deliver for every resident. We know what we must do. Let us do it together.’

Mottley, who delivered the third Emilia Lifaka Memorial Lecture in honour of the late Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) International Executive Committee and Deputy Speaker of Cameroon, said it was taking place at a time when global issues ‘tests both our patience and our purpose’.

She noted that in Paris this week the government changed again, and the timetable for the budget now hangs in the balance.

‘A prime minister has gone as quickly as he arrived. Institutions hold, but the strain is visible. It is a reminder that democracy is not a ceremony. It is labour. It is the daily work of building trust and accepting limits on power.

‘In the same span of days, France’s role in the world drew fierce debate when its president recognised a Palestinian state before the United Nations. Some applauded a moral stand. Others warned about timing, legality, and security.

‘The same democratic house hosted both the decision and the dissent. That is what democracies do. They argue in public. They defend minority views. They return to the table the next morning.’

She told those attending the lecture that the purpose here today is not to romanticise democracy, but to maintain it and accept the discipline that makes freedom possible.

‘I have often said there is value in a short international frame, because our Caribbean lives are not sealed off from the wider world. We live within an international rules-based order. But context must not become a cul de sac. It must lead somewhere’.

She recalled the poem by the late St. Lucian Nobel Prize winner, Derek Walcott that when you break a vase the love that reassembles the fragments is stronger than the love that took its symmetry for granted.

‘Our task is reassembling. So let me move from the global to the immediate. From theory to the workbench. From principles to the practice by which we keep faith with our people,’ she said, adding that Barbados and the region did not inherit ‘perfect institutions.

‘We built and are still building them. Barbados has chosen, again and again, to place strength in institutions rather than in individuals,’ she said, making references to the policy decision taken by the Caribbean island to develop its democracy.

‘What, then, does a healthy democracy look like in our practice. It is not a slogan. It is a system that yields predictable freedoms and predictable fairness,’ she said, noting the importance of free and fair elections, the judicial system, rights and responsibilities with a civic culture that breathes and information and accountability.

‘Let me ground those anchors with simple pictures. An election worker who is respected by both parties because she runs a clean register every time. A magistrate who is known for listening with patience and writing with clarity. A police officer who escorts a march he does not agree with because the marchers are his people and the law protects their voice.

‘A permanent secretary who knows that the numbers in a quarterly report must match the numbers at the Treasury and that the press will ask if they do not. When these habits become normal the country breathes easier, investment flows more readily, and citizens choose confidence over cynicism.’

She said it was also important to name the things that can crack the beams.

‘A failure of courts to hold executives to account. A failure of citizens to recognise their power and to use it. The reach of stronger countries into the choices of smaller ones. The climate crisis that disrupts the best made plans with a single season of rain and wind.

‘A global finance system that keeps the field tilted against the vulnerable. If we pretend these pressures do not exist we will end up repairing a roof after water has already ruined the house. The discipline of maintenance is to find the leak while the rain is still falling and to fix it now.’

She said for the Caribbean, her message is simple.

‘Our scale is not a weakness. It is a laboratory. We can modernise constitutions faster than continents. We can experiment with new mechanisms for judicial appointments, new charters of citizenship, new models for independent oversight that match the reality of small societies where everyone knows everyone and conflicts of interest must be managed in the open.

‘Let us export not only goods and talent, but also good governance. Let our universities, our bars, our auditors, our media houses, our churches and mosques, our community organisations become the mesh that holds our democracies in shape.

‘Let us accept that the applause line is not the result. The result is a school that works, a court that is fair, a police service that is trusted, a clinic that welcomes, a port that moves.’

Mottley said that people do not live inside concepts, but live inside consequences.

‘They want to know that if they speak up they will not be punished. That if they go to court they can be heard. That if they vote it will count. That if they disagree with a prime minister or a party they will still have a place in the national home. ‘

She said this is why she often repeat the words of rhe late Jamaican reggae super star, Bob Marley, adding ‘we must see our citizens, we must hear them, and we must feel what they are going through, because he who feels it knows it’.

The Jamaica government has presented a Green Paper on the National Policy for Culture, Entertainment and the Creative Economy.

Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister, Olivia Grange, tabled the document in Parliament on Tuesday.

‘This Green Paper’s forward-looking approach places a premium on a just and cohesive society, equity and inclusivity, empowered communities, preservation of our rich heritage, respect for cultural diversity and cultural expressions,’ Grange told legislators.

Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister, Olivia Grange, tabling the document in Parliament on Tuesday.

‘The instrument embraces and promotes innovation, as well as the leveraging of frontier technologies that power our creative economy within an ethical framework, and likewise focuses on sustainability and resilience for culture, entertainment and the creative economy,’ she added.

Grange said the Green Paper reflects a bold and visionary design, shaped by ongoing consultative processes with cultural experts and Entertainment, Culture and Creative Industry (ECCI) practitioners.

She noted that ECCI practitioners are positioned at the heart of Jamaica’s human and economic development, recognising their power as engines of human and socio-economic development and transformation.

‘It encapsulates a number of benefits and protections, which will enshrine safeguards around the Jamaica Entertainers and Creatives Insurance Plan, which provides both health and life insurance for our entertainers, creatives, cultural practitioners and our cultural communities,’ Ms. Grange said.

‘It undergirds incentives around tools of trade, facilitates preferential and free movement of entertainers, creatives and cultural practitioners and strengthens the sector through the recognition, integration and sustainability of Associations within the sector,’ she added.

Jamaica’s creative economy is already a significant contributor to national development, generating more than five per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and supporting nearly three per cent of employment.

Grange told Parliament that this performance places entertainment, culture and the creative industries alongside tourism, construction, and agriculture as vital pillars of the economy.

She said that the impetus of this policy design is to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development and growth, through the provision of an enabling environment for the ECCIs, with a strategic plan to address capacity-building, investment needs, and infrastructure requirements.

The policy will also provide for effective governance frameworks; strengthen regimes for data collection and intellectual property rights protection, as well as increased public access to them; target the elimination of barriers to trade; and increase support to the sector in favour of safeguarding the status and mobility of the artiste and anchoring sustained, vibrant, and thriving industries.

‘We are confident that this policy construct, complementary legislative action and diligent implementation will be a critical success factor in transforming people’s lives, communities, society and economy. This represents a key part of the Government’s overall strategy for achieving Jamaica’s Vision 2030 and global Sustainable Development Goals,’ the Minister said.

Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell Wednesday urged the international community to support the Caribbean’s efforts to advance sargassum valorisation as he called for scalable and sustainable responses to the sargassum crisis affecting the Caribbean region.

Addressing the third European Union-Caribbean Global Gateway Conference on Sargassum here, Mitchell said that the ‘time has come to move from research to results,.

Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell speaking at the the third European Union-Caribbean Global Gateway Conference on Sargassum

‘Our islands cannot wait for another wave of sargassum to tell us what we already know that we must turn this challenge into an engine for sustainable growth, job creation, and environmental renewal,’ he told the delegates to the conference convened within the framework of the Global Gateway Forum.

The event has brought together high-level decision-makers, industry leaders, academics, and financial institutions from across the Caribbean, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Europe. The aim is to accelerate the shift from pilot projects to scalable, sustainable, and commercially viable solutions to the region’s growing sargassum challenge.

Prime Minister Mitchell told the conference that Grenada is committed to transforming what has long been perceived as an environmental burden into a catalyst for resilience, innovation, and green economic growth.

But as he emphasised the urgency of collaborative, action-oriented partnerships, Prime Minister Mitchell called on the international community to support the Caribbean’s efforts to advance sargassum valorisation through three strategic measures.

He said these were immediate technical assistance to establish robust monitoring systems, enhance laboratory testing capabilities, and deploy modular pilot units capable of demonstrating commercially viable value streams within the next six to 12 months.

In addition, the Grenadian prime minister called for what he described as blended finance and grant support to de-risk early-stage investments and empower community-based enterprises through targeted incubation programs and workforce development initiatives.

He is also urging market and policy support to stimulate sustained demand via public procurement, facilitate regional trade access, and support the development of standards and certification mechanisms essential for market integration.

The conference here is organized under the auspices of the EU-LAC Global Gateway Investment Agenda (GGIA) and represents a significant milestone in fostering tangible cooperation between the European Union, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

It also serves as a strategic steppingstone toward shaping actionable outcomes in the lead-up to the EU-CELAC Summit 2025.

The following is the CANANews and SPORTS Schedule for Wednesday, October 8, 2025.

BELMOPAN – Belizeans residing on the island of Caye Caulker are on Wednesday voting to decide whether marijuana should be legalised for production and sale three years after the process had been shelved.

PARAMARIBO – Suriname is seeking to become the first country in the world to issue Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs), a new mechanism within the Paris Climate Agreement, similar to carbon credits and is looking to the German-based Deutsche Bank for assistance.

PORT OF SPAIN – Prime Minister Kamla Persad says she remains confident that the courts will ‘deliver a just result’ with respect to her Housing Minister, Dr. David Lee, who along with a businessman, had been taken into custody by police on Tuesday.

GEORGETOWN – The Guyana government has signalled its preparedness to extradite the leader of the recently formed We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, Azruddin Mohamed, and his father, Nazar ‘Shell’ Mohamed, who are wanted in the United States on several fraud related charges.

KINGSTON – Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton says he welcomes the conclusion of a report by the Integrity Commission(IC) even as he expressed ‘regret’ at ‘any hurt or reputational damage that may have resulted from the prolonged public scrutiny.

SPORTS:

NEW DELHI – West Indies head coach Daren Sammy is looking forward to a much-improved showing from his side when they take on India in the second and final Test match here on Friday.

The Guyana government has signalled its preparedness to extradite the leader of the recently formed We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, Azruddin Mohamed, and his father, Nazar ‘Shell’ Mohamed, who are wanted in the United States on several fraud related charges.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, speaking on his weekly ‘Issues in the News,’ Facebook programme on Tuesday night, said that Guyana is both ready and willing to facilitate an extradition request for the Mohameds once requested by the United States authorities.

‘Guyana is ready, willing and most able to diligently discharge its legal duties and obligations under the current extradition framework that exists with the United States of America in relation to this matter, and we remain committed to that course.

‘At this point in time, we are awaiting the request, and once the request is received then the requisite legal process will unfold in accordance with the procedure set out in the law,’ Nandlall told viewers to his programme.

On Monday, it was revealed that the United States authorities had indicted the WIN leader and his father on charges related to wire and mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, stemming from tax evasion on gold exports and the importation of a Lamborghini luxury car.

Denying the allegations contained in the 11-count indictment, Mohamed said he and his father would fight any extradition request by the United States.

‘We are going to fight it here in the court. We are innocent,’ he said, adding ”I’m going to defend myself vigorously because I’m innocent. I am innocent of all these charges and I know it’s heavily political with this administration’.

The indictment come just over a month after Mohamed led his newly formed political party to become the main opposition party in the National Assembly.

If found guilty on the charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, the Mohameds, who were sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in June last year, could separately face a maximum of 20 years on each count, as well as maximum supervised release of three years, a maximum fine of US$250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss.

On the charges of wire fraud, the politician businessman could also be sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and maximum supervised release of three years and a fine of US$250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss.

The Grand Jury is also seeking a maximum of 20 years imprisonment, three years supervised release and a fine of US$500,000 or the value of the property involved in the transaction for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

‘I have noted the allegations peddled against me and my family. While there are legal constraints on how much I can share at this juncture, I am permitted to say this much in the interim; the leadership of the (ruling) PPP (People’s Progressive Party) has been advancing a sustained narrative against the Mohameds aimed at discrediting us,’ Mohamed said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.

But Nandlall said Guyana’s extradition treaty with the United States dates back to more than 100 years and has been repeatedly used by both countries, dismissing the allegation of a political motivation.

‘It is nonsensical for anyone to contend that these processes or this process is being motivated by some political agenda, is inspired by some political incentive or is in any manner whatsoever tainted by politics or some other irrelevant consideration’.

Nandlall said that a review of the US indictment against the Mohamed would show that their alleged crimes covered two different Guyana Governments and two different US Governments also.

‘You would quickly realize that they (indictment) spans a period that goes back to 2017 and what that means is that this process commenced long before long the PPP government got into office. In fact it spans two governments of Guyana and two governments of the United States.

‘The charges as set out in the indictment is between 2017 and 2024 and for most of that period, by their own pronouncements, the Mohameds were close to the PPP. How is it now that the PPP has some narrative and the PPP is somehow involved in some process that can be described as political persecution.

‘One has to be delusional to entertain that type of thinking that the conceive that the PPP has the ability to influence the mighty Department of Justice of the United States of America and their accompanying law enforcement agencies of the US to carry out political agendas of the PPP, to think that the PPP is able to persuade those mighty organisations to carry out its political agenda, that must be the product of a special mind,’ the Attorney General said.

He described Mohamed’s ‘political persecution’ claim as outrageous, saying ‘once that (US) request is made, a process which is outlined both in the Fugitive Offenders Act is triggered, and a series of legal steps have to be followed, all of which are outlined in the legislation.

‘Guyana has made it very clear that it is ready, willing, and most able to diligently discharge its legal duties and obligations under the current extradition framework that exists with the USA in relation to this matter, and we remain committed to that course.’

A police constable was released on TT$250,000 (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) bail after he appeared in the Port-of-Spain Criminal Court charged with misbehaviour in public office arising from the alleged larceny and tampering of court exhibits at police station.

In a statement, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) said that Constable Kerdell Bernard Castillo appeared in court on Monday and that as part of his bail conditions, he must surrender his passport immediately to the Registrar of the High Court.

The TTPS said that the charge stems from an incident on September 15 this year, when officers at the Barataria Police Station, on the outskirts of the capital, discovered that several exhibits, including 27 black plastic packages containing plant-like material resembling cannabis had been removed and replaced with Styrofoam, red bricks, and grass.

The TTPS said that the exhibits had originally been lodged on September 6, as part of an active High Court matter and were secured in the station’s Strong Room.

‘Investigations revealed that between 11th and 14th September 2025, the accused officer allegedly accessed the Strong Room on multiple occasions during his shift and removed a portion of the exhibits. The matter was immediately reported and referred to the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB),’ the TTPS said in the statement.

‘The TTPS takes any allegation of misconduct by its members seriously and reaffirms its commitment to transparency, accountability, and public trust,’ the statement added.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Wednesday announced that it had approved a US$100 million grant to help Haiti rebuild essential health services in its three northern departments to save lives and prevent disabilities.

The IDB said that the project will contribute to improving the health system, conduct key health surveys and analyses for health management, and advance the digitalization of health care, using the information to develop a medium-term investment master plan.

The initiative will also build on interventions carried out since 2022 through IDB-supported social protection operations and will directly support the delivery of essential services aimed at preventing and treating prevalent noncommunicable diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, as well as infectious diseases including cholera, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV, and human papillomavirus.

The IDB said to help empower underserved groups, such as internally displaced people, return migrants, vulnerable women, and people with disabilities, the programme will develop care protocols that reflect their preferences.

‘The greater part of the grant resources will go toward strengthening health infrastructure to enhance the response capacity of the network of facilities serving priority communities. This will be the first stage of a longer-term commitment to rebuild the public health network’s response capacity, beginning with the greater northern region.’

The IDDB said that the grant will be disbursed and implemented over 84 months and is expected to directly benefit 750,000 people in specific communities starting in the country’s three northern departments.