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CCNTV6
  • 10 months ago
Allegations of kickbacks and contractors being extorted are now the center of an investigation into the activities of The Trinidad and Tobago Solid Management Company Limited with its current CEO Ria Ramdeen with questions to answer- though she has denied all the allegations over the last few weeks.

Senior Multimedia Investigative Journalist and Producer Mark Bassant brings you tonight part one of this investigative story SWMCOL troubles.
Transcript
00:00After several years, Swimcall has been shut down, with the government now moving to set up a Waste Recycling Management Authority, as laid out in a proposed cabinet note.
00:17However, over the past three years, the state-run entity has been dogged by persistent allegations of extortion and financial kickbacks linked to its former corporate secretary and current acting CEO, Ria Ramdean.
00:30Allegations that have yet to be fully addressed publicly.
00:33Ramdean has also been widely cited as a leading contender to assume the post of CEO of the Waste Management Authority.
00:39Two weeks ago, CCNTV6 sent several questions to Ramdean via WhatsApp surrounding the allegations leveled against her based on documents obtained by this station during its investigation into the state-run entity.
00:51After a week, Ramdean responded via WhatsApp but declined to address the specific questions put to her based on the allegations.
00:58Ramdean said,
01:00Finally, insofar as your questions impute wrongdoing, I vehemently deny any wrongdoing.
01:06I need not condescend into particulars at this time because your questions are woefully vague, speculative.
01:13Insiders at Swimcall alleged that Ramdean received kickbacks from contractors operating at the landfill sites across the country.
01:20One such contractor, ConstructRite Ltd., provided a document detailing a request for money allegedly made by Ms. Ramdean in exchange for the facilitation of payments and continued business with Swimcall.
01:32Before providing a formal written statement, ConstructRite Ltd. issued pre-action protocol letters to Swimcall through its legal representatives.
01:40These letters, insiders say, outlined the contractor's intention to pursue legal action against Swimcall for unpaid sums and allegedly referenced unethical and coercive conduct within the organization.
01:50In August 2025, ConstructRite Ltd., a co-care-based company, submitted a formal written statement to Swimcall's Human Resources Department explicitly alleging extortion by Ramdean, attaching supporting documentation including check payment vouchers set to directly evidence the payout.
02:07The letter stated, quote,
02:37I am gravely concerned that my company would once again be subjected to an improper request under the threat of losing business opportunities, since we have gotten no requests for goods and services and no requests for tenders for the past two to three years, stating no reason for this, we have also not gotten our payments.
02:54I bring this matter forward out of genuine concern for fairness, integrity and protection from further acts of coercion, and the hope of my outstanding payments will be dealt with in a prompt, fair and transparent manner, close quote.
03:07The contractor, ConstructRite Ltd., prepared a voucher and check payable to Cross-Country Food Traders Ltd. in December 2022, which showed that the funds were a donation for Swimcall, with purportedly a signature insiders say resembled that of Ramdean and another employee.
03:22After several attempts last week, TV6 News spoke with ConstructRite Managing Director Shastri Ramroop.
03:28Ramroop said his firm was a reputable one that offered services to Swimcall in 2021-2022 and had yet to be paid.
03:35Open quote,
03:36All I want is the money owed to me for the work that my company did. It is really unfair. No one has since reached out to me even after the letter I sent, said Ramroop.
03:45He claimed that there were certain people who appeared untouchable because of certain connections.
03:50Interestingly, around that time in December 2022, at least four other contractors who provided various goods and services to Swimcall at various landfill sites also wrote checks to Cross-Country Food Traders Ltd., according to insiders, for the sums of $5,000 to as much as $30,000, allegedly after receiving instructions from Ramdean, who was then acting CEO.
04:11We did ask Ms. Ramdean why contractors who do business with Swimcall were instructed or facilitated to make payments to a third-party private company rather than directly to Swimcall, whether she was involved in requesting, coordinating or directing these payments, and could checkmate the relationship, if any, between Swimcall and Cross-Country Food Traders Ltd.
04:32But Ramdean refused to answer any specifics, vehemently denying any and all allegations.
04:39We contacted the Director of Cross-Country Food Traders Ltd., Timothy Simorath, via phone, and left a voicemail on Tuesday, January 13th.
04:47On Wednesday afternoon, Simorath contacted us, and we posed the allegations surrounding payments to his company by certain Swimcall contractors, who were allegedly directed to do so by Ramdean.
04:57Simorath told TV6 News, he had spoken with Ramdean on a few occasions during the period when she served as CEO and Corporate Secretary.
05:06Open quote,
05:06Many contractors gave money to us, and these were used for the donation of hampers.
05:10I don't know anything about any arrangements made with contractors and anyone at Swimcall.
05:15Close quote.
05:17Simorath could not answer questions as to why monies in some cases from contractors were directed as donations by Swimcall to his Valencia-based business.
05:25Several insiders alleged that these transactions disguised and facilitated the payment of money obtained through extortion and kickbacks.
05:34TV6 reached out to the contractors who wrote checks to Cross-Country Food Traders Ltd. in 2022.
05:39One of them, SizeCon Ltd.'s owner, Rishi Shaisban, who wrote a check for $5,000 in December 2022, said he could not recall exactly what it was for, but said it could have been a donation.
05:50But said, if it turned out to be connected to something else he didn't know about, it should be investigated.
05:56We contacted two other contractors about their payments of $20,000 and $30,000 who promised to get back to us on the matter, but we didn't hear back from them.
06:05After Sean D'Souza, the new CEO of Swimcall, assumed his duties as CEO in September 2023,
06:10these allegations were brought to his desk in late April 2025 with a general election in full swing.
06:17D'Souza was alerted about the alleged suspect transactions by other senior personnel at Swimcall.
06:23D'Souza, in July 2025, wrote to the Permanent Secretary of Public Utilities due to what he had termed the suspicious nature of transactions, said an insider.
06:31D'Souza, insider say, also raised concerns about construct rights, pre-action, protocol letter, and their follow-up letter.
06:38However, about one month later, D'Souza was sent on administrative leave one day after the new board was installed on August 14, 2024, and nothing else was said about the matter.
06:49When TV6 News reached out to D'Souza, he acknowledged he had raised the specific concerns surrounding Ramdeen,
06:54but said he could not comment further at this time due to ongoing legal matters now being pursued.
06:58TV6 News also emailed Deraj Mahes, Swimcall's chairman, about the matter, asking why there had been no investigation into the matter,
07:06but the data had not received any feedback.
07:09Last Thursday, TV6 News reached out to Minister of Public Utilities, Barry Padarath.
07:14Mr. Padarath said,
07:16I am advised by the Permanent Secretary that this matter is receiving the attention of both the Board of Swimcall and the Legal Department of the Ministry.
07:23The matters raised predate my arrival as a ministry, as minister.
07:26Sources say that an employee of Swimcall reported the matter to the Ombudsman in the San Fernando office
07:32and they have started an investigation pertinent to the checks related to alleged embezzlement.
07:38Mark Besant, TV6 News.