Councillor Faaiq Mohammed yesterday received a $275,000 cheque from embattled Independent Liberal Party leader (ILP) Jack Warner.
The payment was to satisfy damages awarded by the High Court in Mohammed’s favour, in a lawsuit he won on July 24, 2014.
The cheque, dated June 30, 2015, was presented to Mohammed by a representative of Warner.
Mohammed was accused by Warner of being corrupt and accepting a bribe of $2.5 million from the UNC to cast a vote for one of its candidates instead of the ILP in the 2013 by-election.
Yesterday, Mohammed in a written statement explained that since the judgment was delivered, he had been trying to get Warner to comply with the court order and pay him.
Last month, Mohammed initiated legal action to recover some $262,000 which the High Court ordered that Warner pay him for making defamatory statements.
Warner’s attorneys, however, contended that the judgment had been appealed.
“Warner recently attacked me at a political meeting when I announced that I had filed an application in court to have him declared bankrupt.”
Mohammed said Warner called him an idiot and clown from Chaguanas West.
“Whilst I am grateful for the payment, I am disappointed that such a wealthy man would have taken over a year to pay such a relatively small debt which was caused by his own baseless, malicious and outrageous attacks on my character and integrity. No amount of money can ever compensate me for the damage done to my character and reputation. I wanted to expose the fraudulent, bold-faced and shameless character assassination that has become a trademark of Warner’s gutter politics.”
Mohammed said the rushed payment by Warner was designed to avoid levy proceedings, which he had filed in the High Court last week.
“That levy would have been executed on the assets of Warner in the coming week as my attorneys were in the process of completing the necessary means and assets search.”