00:00We are putting together our legal team. The mood of members of the executive is that we are excited about
00:06defending the People's National Movement. We are excited about defending Dr. Eric Williams' party.
00:15PNM Chairman Marvin Gonzalez, as he responded to a question from the media, as the police service has confirmed that
00:21the High Court granted a preliminary unexplained wealth order under the Civil Asset Recovery and Management and Unexplained Wealth Act
00:28against the PNM and its trustees.
00:31I understand the General Secretary was served this morning. We haven't had the opportunity to look at the documents.
00:39He was only served, I think it was one o'clock this morning. And since then, we have passed the
00:46document to our legal team and we are awaiting legal guidance.
00:51The PNM's General Secretary is Opposition Senator Foster Cummings.
00:55I have no objection whatsoever with the police doing what they're supposed to do. As a matter of fact, I
01:00was told that arrangement was made for the documents to be served at 1.30 today at Balizier House.
01:06I guess the police didn't have time to wait at 1.30 and Mr. Cummings was met at the PRCO
01:14International Airport for the documents to be served.
01:17However, Chairman Gonzalez, who is also an opposition MP, raised the concerns about a video posted online by the Express
01:23newspaper, which showed the PNM's General Secretary being served with what the newspaper reported.
01:29It was a court order compelling that the party provide financial and other records to explain the funding of the
01:35multi-million dollar construction of Balizier House.
01:38I am very troubled by this because the police must say and explain who took that picture or video.
01:49Worse yet, was it a member of the media or was it a law enforcement officer?
01:55And if it is a law enforcement officer, why was it leaked to the media and for what purpose?
02:00The police service said in a statement on Saturday that the preliminary unexplained wealth order was obtained following an application
02:07by the TTPS as part of an ongoing investigation.
02:10But the TTPS also said the order is an interim measure granted by the court and does not represent a
02:16final determination of liability or wrongdoing.
02:18A question was posed to the PNM's chairman about whether the opposition party would consider requesting information about the government's
02:26funding.
02:26We will await the outcome of the decisions by our legal team.
02:32We are not advising ourselves. We ought not to do so.
02:35But we will await the advice being given by our legal team.
02:39But I rest assured and I want to assure the membership of the PNM that we will resist that with
02:45every sinew of our body and we will expose it for what it is.
02:49On Wednesday, MP Gonzalez said in a brief statement on Facebook that, quote,
02:53The party's financials is a matter for the membership through the General Council in accordance with its constitution.
02:59No one will impose values on the PNM that they don't live by, and that includes the UNC, end quote.
03:06The Express newspaper has quoted Prime Minister Kamla Passat-Basasa as having said that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service
03:11and the judiciary are independent organizations.
03:16Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:20Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:20Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:20Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:20Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:20Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:20Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
03:20Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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