Tuesday February 9th, 2010
- Last update:15 hours 26 min ago
Jamaat debt crosses $40M
Published: 13 Sep 2009
This posh, apartment building at Dibe, Long Circular, St James, looks in immaculate condition, and is obviously a Jamaat moneyspinner.
The debt owed to the State by Imam Yasin Abu Bakr and the Jamaat al Muslimeen, to date, for damage to property during the July, 1990 attempted coup is more than $40 million.
This figure is based on the judgment delivered last Friday by Justice Rajendra Narine in High Court Action No 2292 of 1994, between Bakr and the Muslimeen, on the one hand, and the Attorney General, on the other. Narine ruled that the State could collect its debt from the sale of 11 properties owned, or part-owned, by Bakr. There is a 14-day stay on the properties—from September 11—which will be sold by auction. A valuation done in February, 2006, put the value of the properties at around $23 million.
Bakr’s debt stood at $31.6 million at the date of the summons for the court action, February 6, 2006. At interest of $6,480.30 a day, an additional $8.4 million is to be added on to bring it up to date.
Last Friday, Narine further directed that an affidavit filed by Bakr, detailing an alleged agreement with Prime Minister Patrick Manning, be sent to the acting Commissioner of Police (CoP) and the acting Director of Public Prosecutions for their consideration.
Narine said Bakr’s affidavit stated that the Jamaat leader spoke and met with Manning, Larry Achong, Joan Yuille-Williams and Martin Joseph, before the 2002 general election.
According to Bakr, it was agreed that—among other things—the State would not enforce the payment of damages against the Jamaat.
Efforts yesterday to contact Bakr in England, where he is with his daughter, who is due to start university studies, were futile, as he did not return messages. A television report last night stated that the file containing the Privy Council judgement was forwarded to the CoP in May. Yesterday, when contacted, Joseph said he was not in a position to comment. “ I have now landed so I have not had an opportunity to familiarise myself with anything. Give me a chance to settle and I will give you a response.”
—reporting by Peter Balroop
Properties to be sold:
■ La Puerta in Diego Martin—five-and-a-half acres of land owned by Bakr and his nephew Gary Phillip. A building belonging to Bakr’s wife Anisa Abu Bakr is on the land.
■ An apartment complex at Dibe, Long Circular, St James—a two-storey building with apartments on more than a lot of land.
■ Building at 10 Park Avenue, Queen’s Park Savannah on a lot of land—half of property owned by Bakr, the other half by former Jamaat member Ahamad Ali.
■ Four parcels of land in Indian Trail Couva—4 hectares, 2.45 hectares, 2.45 hectares, 5 hectares.
■ A plot of land in Marabella.
■ A small parcel of land in Mayaro which was purchased from Ato Boldon’s father.
■ Couple acres of land in Diego Martin.
■ Land in Marabella (1,000 square metres), purchased from his mother-in-law, Dulcie Bholai.
■ 2.6 hectares of land at Las Cuevas owned by Kala Akii Bua.
■ A plot of land in Marabella.
ABOVE: The building at the front of the five-acre Jamaat spread owned by Bakr and his nephew, Gary Phillip, at the top of a dog leg hill accessed through Wilson Lane in La Puerta, Diego Martin. One of Bakr's wives, Anisa, also lives on the land, with a breathtaking view of Westmoorings and the Gulf of Paria.
BELOW: No humans were visible, but birds in cages and curtains fluttering in half-open windows were to be seen yesterday in the two-storey building in which Imam Yasin Abu Bakr has an interest at 10 Park Avenue, Queen's Park East, Port-of-Spain. Photos: Keith Matthews
Do you think the government
Do you think the government will be transparent in the sales of these properties?
Ryan4Party
This man has made claims in
This man has made claims in the past that he has no source of income or properties, I find it amazing that he can send his children to universities overseas. Last week he was in the U.K. Are the citizens of this country paying for their overseas education. We would surely like to know. Most parents hug and kiss their children at Piarco and send them off to Europe or the Americas, all by themselves. But oh no, Mr. Bakr has to escourt his child, ensure they land and get to their residence, before he returns home, and to do so you must have lots of money in your possession.
The properties listed for sale are but a small portion of this man's properties, without a doubt. I am certain he has vested interest in more properties, even though his name may not be listed as its owner. A man with 4 (or is it 5) wives, with many children, must have lots of money in his possession to keep them in comfort. A far cry from his days hustling his stuff wearing his hat and long white robe in the centre of Toronto.
He owes the citizens of this country a huge debt slated to be $40M to date, and with the entanglement with our Prime Minister we are but on-lookers; questioning and receiving little information of which we are unable to make any real sense.
These pictures shown above would indicate that these properties must value quite a lot. When they go on the auction block, those of us with money can step forward with our bids.
Its now 19 years since the Coup and to now be privy to information which would indicate our P.M. may have entered into an agreement in 2002 with Mr. Bakr, to get him support to win the election, simply blows the mind. Is there nothing sacred?
The shenanagins have begun already. Ms. Carla Brown-Antoin states that she got the Affidavit in May and forwarded a copy to the Act. CoP for his attention and surely investigation. Mr. Martin Joseph is the Minster of National Security and now claims that he just "landed" (did he come down with Shuttle in the U.S.) and he knows nothing of this situation. From May to September - appx. 4 months have passed and Mr. Joseph expects us to believe that he is in the dark. Please do not insult us Mr. Joseph with such idiotic answers. Your staff and/or 'partners in crime' surely contacted you with up to date information. Don't you have all the modern trapping our money can buy - cell, blackberry, etc. You know everything, and if you don't, why not. You are the boss man over National Security.
We will just have to wait and see how Mr. Manning and his loyal 'insiders' will handle this business. Would it be business as usual, or will they be forced to do what must be done? Time will tell.
The Ag. DPP now in her last
The Ag. DPP now in her last days divulges that she sent the Affidavit to the Ag.CoP since May. He says he did not receive it, at least not personally. Ms Browne should clarify to whom it was addressed. Her Registry should have a record and the messenger who delivered it should have a receipt signature, assuming that it was sent by hand, as would be the practice. Otherwise the public would speculate with questions such as "did he do a Panday who did not receive the President's letter?" Or "did rats eat the document?" (similar to the excuse we used to give our teachers that the neighbour's dog ate our homework), or "did he send it to his political master(s) for obvious direction and received the directive: "write n.f.a.n.; file away"?"" or "did he turn a blind eye like he did when an illegal demonstration took place in Woodford Square, aided & abetted by the PM & Cabinet?" or "did he decide to sit on it and leave the hot potato for his successor when he goes off on that long-overdue retirement?" or "will the Chairman of the PSC ask for a Report, as he is wont to do?" Maybe they can all get the Minister of Misinformation & Propaganda to help them out in this matter.
Gardenia, its Sunday today.
Gardenia, its Sunday today. Today we watch football and tidy up the garden but no, as we get conflicting reports of the Affidavit,we get activated again, so what is the paper trail here? And why would Manning et al have a meeting with someone who allegedly tried to cause treason? And furthermore a court case by the Attorney general is planned, why? so duncey Manning et al do that? You see the guy Abu is smart, he had them by the goolies, but he should have had a tape recorder or did they tell him no tape recorders?. They must have met, as the meetings may be in Manning's diary or at these dates and times, do they say that were asleep? Can he say he did not meet Abu? If he did meet Abu, why considering the sensitivities and legal positions here? If my Govt is taking you Abu to court why am I meeting with you?. You see what I say when my International friends have good laugh bout TT. You see when I say Unfit to manage. They just can't believe this. I wonder if they will make a TV Idiots programme about things like this. call it "Duncies in Government".
Desmond, hope your football
Desmond, hope your football game was enjoyable, and your team won? Little pleasures in life don't come too often. Cleaned up the garden, too?
Sorry, but I did't mean to mock-up your day. Will try not to do the same next Sunday.
These articles do beg for a response - hard to walk away ...
We can't simply look for the paper trail - we must also look for the breadcrumbs trail - we may find some red ants to take us to the 'master plan'.
Nothing will come out of
Nothing will come out of this probe by the CoP. The CoP is like a black hole, nothing will come out of it and no light will shine on it. If Carla didnot say she sent him the affidavit he would have stayed as quiet as he has been on the matter since May. Now he denies he evr recieved it personally. I'm sure it came to his office, that was all the DPP had to do. So what, Carla have to call him and say "Jamsey ah sen ah ting for yuh, yuh get it?"
Sweet T&T get accustom to hearing that the matter is under investigation. You will hear this mantra till the cows come home. Anybody remembers the Labidco investigation, what happen to that one? Well this one will go down the same road.
markie hampton Hurry up an
markie hampton
Hurry up an seize and sell the properties/real estate as quickly as the demand for property taxes from the citizens of the twin island republic. ACTION PLS NOW
Where did Bakr get the money
Where did Bakr get the money to buy these properties? Does the Board of Inland Revenue have any records of his Taxes? Does he have a "real" job or is he just a typical Trini "smartman" pretending to be an Imam and collecting "zakat" and other "protection money". This idiot should have been put away since 1990, but instead, he is allowed to plunder, pillage and intimidate innocent people from exercising their God given right to vote. Thank God we have some learned judges like Mustapha Ibrahim, Rajendra Narine, Sat Sharma, Mark Mohammed et al, who have the independendent judgement to "call a spade a spade" and not kowtow to the political establishment as some of the other legal luminaries. The people derserve it, Democracy demands it.The Government could give him five scheme houses, one for each of his wives, or better yet send him to Afghanistan and send Martin Joseph with him.
“The Jamaat is broke.
“The Jamaat is broke. It’s a fact,” Aniysa Jabaar, secretary at the Jamaat al Muslimeen’s secondary school, Mucurapo Islamic College, says.
This statement was made during an interview last Wednesday.
The Jamaat al Muslimeen was named in an alleged plot to blow up the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York City. And last Wednesday, members of the international media found their way into the organisation’s mosque at 1 Mucurapo Road, Port-of-Spain, for a press conference with the group.
United States detective, Robert Addonizio, of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, in a sworn deposition relating to the alleged plot, said four men suspected of being involved in the plot to blow up fuel pipelines feeding the JFK Airport—all Caribbean Muslims, one a Trinidadian—planned to meet with Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr.
It was implied that their purpose was to ask the Muslimeen for help in funding the plot.
My work: cash