Petrotrin has handed over to police all records of payment connected to the Southwest Soldado developmental deal, saying it is yet to recover monies from Mexican shipping firm Maritima de Ecologia SA de CV (Maritima).
A senior Petrotrin official is alleged to have pushed through the deal, breaching Petrotrin’s own rules and contract requirements by paying the upfront commissioning fee of US$1.25 million (TT$7.94 million) to Maritima.
In a letter dated April 17, sent to acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams, Petrotrin chairman Khalid Hassanali said Petrotrin was prepared to give police all the records and make available all personnel pertinent to the investigation. Hassanali also confirmed that US$750,000 (TT$4.794 million) in public funds which was paid to Maritima was never recovered, even though evidence surfaced that it was returned to two private bank accounts.
“Recent newspaper reports suggest that US$750,000 of the advance payment made to Maritima was returned to two local private accounts at the Ellerslie Plaza Branch of Scotia Bank, located at Maraval, Port-of-Spain.
The articles suggest that the monies were returned to these accounts allegedly on Petrotrin’s instructions but to date Petrotrin has not received such funds,” Hassanali said. “In the circumstances, we will be grateful if you can address this matter at your earliest convenience. We stand ready to provide you with any and all information concerning this issue.” Hassanali said on March 8, 2012, Petrotrin awarded a contract for the provision of a temporary offshore production and compression facility for west and Southwest Soldado to Maritima. However, Maritima failed to perform its contractual obligations and Petrotrin terminated the contract.
Contacted on his cellphone yesterday, Williams said he was out of the country and could not give any details on the investigation.
“I have to be updated on that matter. Later in the week I will meet with the Head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau and get an update on the status of this matter,” Williams said.
Three documents, including the findings of the auditor’s report, information on some contractors and correspondence leading up to the auditor’s report have already been handed to the police by the Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU). OWTU’s president general Ancel Roget has accused Petrotrin of destroying pertinent information about the deal.
Meanwhile, a letter obtained by the Guardian dated April 19, 2012, named Jeffrey Clark as the local contact for the project. He was placed in charge of Tender 11.10321477 by Maritima’s director Gabriel Delgado Saldivar.
On its Web site yesterday, Petrotrin said, “Clark, who is alleged to have registered Sterling Marine Ltd. (SML), the reported beneficiary of US$100,000, is not and never was an agent or representative of Petrotrin.”