NEWLY-APPOINTED United National Congress (UNC) Senator Dr. Shastri Moonan has hardly had time to warm his new seat in the Senate and already questions have been raised about his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal with a senior executive at the former telephone company, Telco some l8 years ago.

Dr. Moonan, an attorney, and Razia Ahmed, an insurance executive, were sworn in the Senate on Tuesday, having been nominated by the Kamla Persad-Bissessar faction of the UNC.

They replaced Sadiq Baksh and Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, who have pledged their loyalty to the Winston Dookeran faction of the splintered Opposition UNC.

Senator SHASTRI
MOONAN ... sleeping
on the job on his
first day.

Multi-millionaire Dr. Moonan, was charged in l989 with giving Telco (now Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago) Corporate Secretary, Rudy Brown, a bribe (a luxury Toyota Royal Saloon car) in connection with a contract in favour of Moonan.

Following intensive investigations by the Fraud Squad, Dr. Moonan and Brown were charged with corruption.

Moonan was charged under Act No. 11 of the l987 Prevention of Corruption Legislation with giving Brown a bribe.

Brown was charged with receiving a bribe.

The late Selwyn Richardson, who served as Attorney General under the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) administration in l986, introduced a new Anti-Corruption legislation (which repealed the old law) to deal with allegations of rampant corruption among public officials.

When the indictable case came up for hearing at the preliminary inquiry, the defence argued that Moonan was charged under the wrong Act, pointing out to the magistrate that the alleged offence had been committed before the l987 legislation came into being.

Moonan’s attorney argued that he should have been charged under Section 11-11 of the old Prevention of Corruption Act.

Instead, he was charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act 11 of 87.

The magistrate agreed with the submission and Moonan was freed because of the legal technicality.

However, Brown, who was alleged to have collected the bribe and was charged jointly with Moonan, failed to show up for his case.

Police said they had information that Brown had fled the country and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

It is reported that Brown has since died.

The prosecution was not satisfied with the magistrate’s decision to free Moonan and sought advice from the then Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Gladys Gaffoor, who gave instructions to lay the charge against Moonan, this time under the old Corruption Act.

When the new criminal charge was laid and Moonan appeared in court, his attorneys filed for Judicial Review in the High Court.

The case in the magistrate’s court was then held in abeyance until the determina-tion of the High Court action.

This was eventually determined in Moonan’s favour by the Appeal Court.

Moonan was charged by Inspector Rawle Campbell, of the Fraud Squad (now retired).

When asked by TnT Mirror on Tuesday, mere hours before he was sworn in to comment on the corruption charge he faced in l989, Moonan said: “I was totally exonerated by the Court of Appeal.”

He said the matter would have no bearing on his duty to serve in Parliament.

“I was exonerated by Justice Mustapha Ibrahim and Lloyd Gopeesingh (brother of UNC senator Dr. Tim Gopeesingh),” was his terse response.

Commenting on this on this new turn of events in the appointment of Moonan to the Senate, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar admitted that she was unaware of the charges against the new senator.

She said she had obtained a copy of the Appeal Court judgment which she would examine.

Asked whether Moonan would remain as a senator, she said, “we would have to discuss that.”