Trinidad Assistant Commissioner of Police flagged for suspicious financial transactions

ACTING Commission­er of Police Irwin Hack­shaw has been flagged by three finan­cial institutions for close to $2 million in suspicious activity.
The banks reported the transactions to the Financial Intelli­gence Unit of T&T (FIU) following deposits into over 15 personal accounts belonging to Hackshaw during the period 2014-2019.
Hackshaw, whose substantive post is Assis­tant Commissioner of Police (ACP), holds the acting position of Deputy Commissioner of Po­lice (DCP), Administra­tion and Operational Sup­port.
He was also one of many police officers who had applied for the post of DCP which was advertised by the Police Service Commission (PSC) in 2017, but was unsuccessful.
An eight-month-long Sunday Express in­ves­ti­gation has unearthed that cheques were made out to Hackshaw by several construction firms, businesses owners, a se­curity company and a former high commissioner to Canada.
Among the compa­nies are Namalco Con­struction; Asia V Or­gani­sational Ltd (#1 South­­Land Mall, Cross Crossing, San Fernando); Laing Sandblasting; Unipet; Guardsman Security Services; Mootilal Ramhit and Sons Contracting Ltd; Super Technologies; Suncorp Enterprises Ltd; Kaizen Environmental Services; former ambassador and director at SNC-Lavalin Phillip Buxo; and businessman Mitra Dharma­singh.
Additionally, there were over 180 depo­sits amounting to $1.8 million spread over 18 RBC Royal Bank accounts, with more monies deposited into an account at Scotiabank and the Unit Trust Corporation.
During the period February-September 2017, Hackshaw received $105,500 from Cu­nu­pia-based business BioMedical Technologies, which was told the money was to be alloca­ted to events hosted by the T&T Police Service.
The company issued the following cheques to Hackshaw:
• February 2, 2017:
cheque #0007303—$65,000
• July 28, 2017:
cheque #0007737—$8,000
• September 13, 2017:
cheque #0007810—$25,000
• September 29, 2017:
cheque #0008041—$7,500.
The Sunday Express contacted director of BioMedical Technologies David Jaikissoon last Thursday seeking information on why his company gave Hackshaw money.
Jaikissoon respon­ded: “He (Hackshaw) is just a friend to me. He asked for donations for a police Christmas function and sporting event. He was scouting around for donations.”
Asked why the cheques were not made payable to the TTPS instead of Hackshaw and whether Hackshaw had presented any written cor­respondence bearing the TTPS letterhead, Jaikissoon said: “It really does not matter to me, it is not like I am doing business with the TTPS or looking for work from them; the monies were given to assist in their events.”
Security company issued cheques
A South Trinidad-­based security company and an East Trinidad tech company also issued the following cheques to Hackshaw:
• Cheque #000598, in the sum of $10,000, drawn from the account of Super Technologies to Hackshaw on September 28, 2017.
• On August 12, 2017 and November 15, 2017, two cheques were issued in the sum of $10,000 and $7,000 respectively to Hackshaw, which were drawn from the personal account of a director of the company. All cheques were depo­sited in separate RBC accounts.
Additionally, the security company issued six cheques in Hackshaw’s name as follows:
• June 29, 2017:
cheque #0002961—$10,000
• July 28, 2017:
cheque #0003037—$5,000
• August 20, 2017:
cheque #0003141—$10,000
• September 5, 2017:
cheque #0003235—$5,000
• November 3, 2017:
cheque #0003420—$10,000
• January 19, 2019:
cheque #0005506—$15,000
All cheques were de­posited into five sepa­rate RBC Royal Bank accounts and one Scotiabank account belonging to Hackshaw.
Following are other cheques issued by construction and other companies to Hackshaw, which were deposited into his personal bank accounts:
• April 12, 2017:
cheque #049321—$6,500
• April 12, 2017:
cheque #000882—$25,000
• July 7, 2017:
cheque #000666—50,000
• July 27, 2017:
cheque # 027944—$10,000
• August 18, 2017:
cheque #000009 —$10,000
• November 17, 2017:
cheque #000029— $10,000
• November 22, 2017:
cheque #002069—$2,000
• November 23, 2017:
cheque #000060—$15,000
Suspicious activity sent to
law enforcement
Contacted on Thursday, acting director of the FIU Nigel Stoddard told the Sunday Express he would not be able to comment on any activities which come to the unit’s attention.
Stoddard was asked specifically if the FIU had sent a report for investigation to the TTPS in relation to Hackshaw.
He said, “No, I will not be able to comment on that or any other specific matters. The (FIU) under the regulations is confidential in nature, therefore, I will not be commenting on such matters.”
The Sunday Express asked if suspicious transactions involve (police officers), does the FIU still forward the information to the TTPS?
Stoddard said yes.
“Regardless of a person’s occupation or status, an intelligence report will be filed in accordance with Section 15 of the FIU Act after the FIUTT concludes its analysis. Suspicious transaction reports/suspicious activity reports (STRs/SARs) and the circumstances warrant investigation, an intelligence report shall be submitted to the relevant LEA (law enforcement agency) or to all the LEAs, i.e., it may warrant investigations by the TTPS, BIR (Board of Inland Revenue) and Customs for investigation….”
No investigative powers
Stoddard said the FIU does not have any investigative powers to probe the information it receives from financial institutions.
Asked whether he thought such powers ought to be given to the organisation, Stoddard said the FIU Act gives the organisation powers to “request financial and other infor­ma­­tion from reporting entities and public authorities that will be incor­porated in an intel­ligence report going to the law enforcement agen­cies that will guide and assist their ML/FT investigation to recover assets.
“In 2009, the FIUTT was established as an administrative-type FIU set-up to act as a buffer between the LEA and the reporting entities…. There are three other types of FIU models such as law enforcement-type, judicial or prosecutorial-type or the hybrid-type FIUs, all with advantages and disadvantages.
“The type of FIU depends on the jurisdictions and research data in the jurisdiction that will guide the authorities on the model/type that will be best suited for the jurisdiction.”
Sunday Express: Following the dissemination of suspicious transactions obtained from financial institutions to the TTPS, does the FIU conduct any follow-ups as to whether an investigation was launched or the status of the investigation?
Stoddard indicated yes.
He explained the FIU has a formal feedback and follow-up process after disseminating intelligence reports.
Hackshaw: There are repercussions ► sub-head ◄
The Sunday Express contacted Hackshaw on his cellphone on March 4 at 1.06 p.m. and on March 6 at 8.40 a.m., 8.55 a.m., 9.48 a.m. and 10.18 a.m., but there was no response.
The Sunday Express tried calling from a diffe­rent number on March 6 at 10.35 a.m., with no response.
At 10.46 a.m., Hackshaw returned the call, saying he had a missed call. Following is the conversation:
Reporter: Hello, good morning.
Hackshaw: Morning, who is this?
This is Denyse Renne from the Express newspaper.
Who is this?
Denyse Renne from the Express newspaper.
Why are you calling me Miss Renne?
I am writing an article for Sunday and needed to get a comment from you regarding some questions that I have.
Well, listen, I have so many things on my plate.
Would you like me to WhatsApp you the questions? The questi­ons are based on you being flagged by the FIU for suspicious financial transactions.
Well, if you want to print whatever you want, dearie, you can. But just be mindful there are repercussions to those…
I am hearing what you are saying, but I would need for you to answer the questions. Would you like for me to WhatsApp or e-mail the questions to you?
No, no, listen, let me tell you something. I have my work to do. Same thing you are doing to the Commissioner of Police, Mr Gary Griffith, we have our work to do.
OK, I understand all of that, but would you be open to me sending the questions to you?
No. Happy Women’s Day, Happy Women’s Day.
Call is disconnected.
Questions sent to Hackshaw
At 10.59 a.m. last Friday, the following questions were sent to Hackshaw via WhatsApp.
The questions were read as indicated by two blue ticks, but no response was forthcoming.
1. Are you aware that you were flagged by the FIUTT for suspicious financial transactions?
2. Were you ever interviewed by officers of the TTPS in relation to these suspicious financial transactions?
3. In what capacity were you collecting mo­nies from (several companies named)?
4. Why were cheques from the above compa­nies and individuals made out in your name, as opposed to the TTPS?
6. The Express is informed that the cheques were deposited into your personal accounts (RBC Roytrin, Scotia Price Plaza and UTC), as opposed to the TTPS accounts. Please confirm.
(Trinidad Express)