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  • 1 week ago

Eleven years after the LifeSport Programme was aborted amid allegations of corruption a confidential police dossier and a sworn suspect witness statement have surfaced, exposing a movie-like scene of a conspiracy to rob the state of millions of taxpayers' dollars.

At the centre of it was witness Ruth Marchan, who is now under a witness protection programme abroad.

Marchan, a former Ministry of Sport insider was heavily involved in the ill-fated programme, and she claims to have witnessed personally how government officials, contractors, and criminal elements conspired to bleed the system dry of $440 million.

Over the next few weeks, CCN Senior Multimedia Investigative Journalist/Producer Mark Bassant delves into the long-buried secrets of the LifeSport Programme and shocking allegations made by Marchan to law enforcement authorities.

Marchan's statement, which has been part of vital evidence in the hands of investigators for years, has gathered dust, with no charges laid to date.
here's Part one of Lifesport Secrets Revealed.
Transcript
00:00music
00:20It's been 11 years now since the white color crime division began digging into one of the most explosive scandals ever to rock Trinidad and Tobago
00:29The Life Sport Programme
00:31A controversy that rocked the People's Partnership Government back in 2014
00:36Forcing then Prime Minister Kamala Passat Bisasa to pull the plug on the programme
00:41According to this confidential police document, investigators believe that a conspiracy to defraud the government
00:48was facilitated by certain high level government officials that were named in this document
00:54Those officials report states requested cabinet funding for projects that were never done
00:59clearing the way for them to siphon millions of dollars off for their own use and personal financial gain
01:06Cabinet and budgetary allocations for the Life Sport Programme
01:10Amongst it a staggering $440 million, $666,381
01:18And to this day, a decade later, the investigation continues
01:23No charges laid and no accountability for taxpayers' dollars
01:28But now TV6 News has obtained a critical document in which a key suspect who later turned to state witness
01:34and has been living in protective custody abroad for several years
01:37gives a deep, dark insight into how the Life Sport Programme and its key players including criminal elements
01:43profited handsomely from this elaborate scheme
01:46It's a revelation that sheds new light on a scandal many thought had gone cold
01:50and one that raises serious questions about how deep the corruption really went and who exactly benefited
01:57That witness, Ruth Marchand, worked deep in the belly of the beast at the Ministry of Sport for several years
02:03She was at the very heart of Life Sport's internal operations
02:06and in 2021 decided to spill the beans to investigators on how it all went down
02:11in a notarised statement that is also in the hands of the DPP
02:15In a statement, Marchand details how the alleged web of corruption began to unfold
02:20starting with Adolphus Daniel, the man behind eBeam Interact Ltd
02:24According to Marchand, Daniel walked away with the largest single payout under the Life Sport Programme
02:29an estimated $34 million for work he never did
02:34It all began back in September 2012
02:37when Adolphus Daniel pitched a Math, English and Technology component to the then-Permanent Secretary Ashwin Creed
02:43hoping to have it included as part of the Life Sport Initiative
02:46At the time, the programme was designed for so-called Hotspot Communities
02:50A three-tiered initiative meant to focus on sport training, occupational skills and a job place for at-risk youth
02:58But investigators say what followed was anything but a simple education plan
03:02Instead, it became a blueprint for systematic fraud
03:06where contracts were issued, money flowed freely and oversight was virtually non-existent
03:12Daniel will later become one of the central figures in the Life Sport scandal
03:16He passed away in 2021, just months before Ruth Marchand gave a statement to Trinidad and Tobago police officers at a location in Europe
03:24after a request was made for mutual legal assistance through this country's central authority
03:29Marchand said that Daniel was involved in the Life Sport Programme in a very significant way
03:34and was later allowed to attend meetings of the implementation committee
03:38Open quote
03:39He imposed himself on the members and controlled everything that was taking place
03:43When I heard Daniel speak, I was of the belief that he had an agenda
03:47and, although official name called, for reasons unknown to me, gave him the opportunity to explore and fulfil that agenda
03:54Whatever it was, it was a well-kept secret
03:58Daniel Marchand said later, proposed that he become a lead consultant on the project
04:03and it was a posture endorsed by a senior official
04:06Even though Forbes Passat was the chairman of the implementation committee
04:10Members had to update Daniel of everything happening within the programme
04:14Marchand, however, said that the component Daniel zeroed in on was Math and English
04:19Marchand later revealed
04:21Open quote
04:22The component remained Math and English
04:25But Daniel changed the figures on the proposed from 22 million to cover the two years of the contract
04:30to 34 million to cover the same two years
04:33Within the space of one month, Daniel copied a lot of information from his proposal directly onto the contract
04:40And, while he increased the cost from 22 million to 34 million, the scope of work did not change
04:46Close quote
04:47According to Ruth Marchand, while Adolphus Daniel advised the implementation committee on life sport matters
04:54He quietly kept his own company's involvement a secret
04:58Marchand told investigators she was ordered to shield the E-Beam contract from the implementation committee
05:04and even to manipulate the budget to make it work
05:07She said she was instructed to alter key figures in the life sport budget to accommodate Daniel's multi-million dollar contract
05:14Even the Ministry's legal department, she claimed, was kept completely in the dark
05:19Instead, Marchand said she was told to find a simple contract template used by the Ministry of Sport
05:25and then guide Daniel on how to format and structure his own agreement
05:30Open quote
05:31It was like the blind leading the blind
05:33And while we were working on things surrounding the E-Beam contract
05:36Forbes, Bassad and other members of the implementation committee
05:40were working with a budget that speaks to vocational skills and not technology, math and English
05:46Close quote
05:47Marchand said the implementation committee was later notified by a senior official
05:51that they were no longer going with their vocational skills
05:54but rather technology, math and English
05:57Marchand said when all was done
05:59Open quote
06:00Daniel subsequently collected the entire sum of $34 million for his contract
06:05and did not provide the services stated therein
06:07This money was paid to Daniel in two parts of $17 million each
06:11Close quote
06:12In the year 2013, Daniel received two payments of $17 million
06:16amounting the $34 million in total
06:19paid out through the support company of Trinidad and Tobago
06:21But Daniel wasn't done there
06:23Marchand said in June 2013
06:25after Daniel had received the first tranche of $17 million
06:28he asked Marchand to include an additional $8 million technology component
06:33Marchand said open quote
06:35I simply inserted this $8 million component into the budget back door
06:39Close quote
06:40Marchand said she even instructed personnel to manipulate the Cabinet note
06:44to ensure funding not only for Daniel
06:46but also for any other ad hoc requests that came through Life's Board
06:51for the period from 2012 when the program started to 2014
06:55Marchand admitted in a statement that in regards to Life's Board
06:58many additions were made
07:00However, open quote
07:01Most of these changes did not go to Cabinet or anything
07:04We already breached the Cabinet note with regard to administrative structure
07:08Close quote
07:09Marchand further explained that the $8 million added was merely a change to the budget
07:14and that was no addendum to the budget that was done
07:17Open quote
07:18No other supporting documents or anything was submitted to support this increase
07:22So when Daniel was paid, there was the additional $8 million just lingering in the system
07:27Close quote
07:28Marchand revealed to authorities in a 65-page statement that the Central Audit Committee was going to recommend that Daniel repay the money he had received from the Ebene contract
07:36As he had failed to fulfill two parts of his contract
07:40Marchand said she believed that Daniel forgot about the $8 million and had disappeared from the Ministry for months
07:46She said she believed it was prompted by an incident that occurred in August 2013
07:50In which Daniel chaired a coordinators meeting at the stadium
07:53Open quote
07:54At this time the gangs were complaining about Daniel
07:57And saying that they didn't want any math and English component in the program
08:01Daniel felt threatened by this
08:03We were also at war with Daniel for receiving money
08:06And delaying the start of his component of the program
08:09At that meeting in the stadium, things got heated
08:11And a leader of the Rasta City gang at that time got up and slapped Daniel
08:15Daniel came to my office, told me what happened
08:19And accused me of conspiring with the gangs to beat him
08:22He even pulled a gun on me based on this
08:24And threatened to shoot me
08:26I never reported this incident to the police
08:29Close quote
08:30Marchand said Daniel was later instructed by the higher-ups in the Ministry of Sport
08:33That he could no longer chair any meetings that didn't concern his aspect of life sport
08:38She later said he went dark
08:40Marchand said it was around the time that Daniel disappeared
08:43That the Ministry of Finance released the $8 million for the technology component
08:47Marchand said open quote
08:49We weren't seen Daniel
08:50So we decided to take this money from the technology component
08:54And share the money among ourselves
08:56Close quote
08:57A clever plan was supposedly orchestrated to split the money
09:00Not leaving any trail behind according to Marchand
09:03Next week Monday
09:04The $8 million split
09:06And how it all went down
09:08Mark Besant, TV6 News
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