Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington yesterday ruled in favour of the prosecution in the extradition case against Jack Warner and ordered that his matter begin in December.
In the process, Wellington set a December 2 date for hearing Warner’s extradition to the United States case, despite strenuous objections by Warner’s lead attorney Senior Counsel Fyard Hosein, who unsuccessfully argued that more time was needed in the complex case.
Warner lost the first round in what is likely to be a long battle on the same day Switzerland’s attorney general announced a probe had been started into current Fifa president Sepp Blatter. The case will look at some of the same accusations levelled against Warner in the matter being pursued by the US authorities.
Hosein had argued that the state’s legal team had been “dilly-dallying” on signing the Authority to Proceed and only did so after the deadline had expired. He said the State used as excuses the general election and the need for time to consider the documents even while having an abundance of lawyers on its side.
“We can’t have a situation where they are now saying this matter is an urgent one,” Hosein said, adding that the defence only last Thursday received documents in relation to the matter which list 29 charges for Warner to answer.
Senior Counsel Pamela Elder, the lead local attorney representing the requesting State, said the Authority to Proceed (ATP) was in place and the extradition proceedings should commence as soon as possible in accordance with Section 12:2 of the Extradition Act.
In setting the trial date yesterday, Wellington told Hosein, who on the last occasion had asked that his client be discharged since the State had failed to sign the ATP within the specified timeframe, “I do not think I can accede to the request.”
Warner is charged with 29 counts of several statutory offences, including money laundering under the Proceeds of Crime Act, corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and receiving money under the Larceny Act.
He is also charged with conspiracy to accept corrupt payments, conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to defraud.
The case
Warner, 72, of Cynthia Drive, Five Rivers, Arouca, faces 12 charges related to fraud, racketeering and illegal wire transfers.
The offences are alleged to have taken place in the US, T&T and other jurisdictions between 1990 and June 2011 when Warner quit Fifa. He is currently on $2.5 million bail.
The former political leader of the Independent Liberal Party was arrested on a provisional warrant in May after the US Department of Justice announced the results of their investigation into Warner and 12 of his former colleagues and current Fifa officials.
Warner and nine other defendants are still fighting extradition to the United States. The other three are currently in the US to answer the charges.
While Warner’s matter is before the courts, the Swiss attorney general yesterday made moves against Blatter, searching his offices on suspicion that he misappropriated funds and violated his duties while in charge of Fifa.
Blatter agreed to step down as Fifa head earlier this year, although he retained the presidency, amid a corruption scandal which swirled around the world governing body for football. Fresh presidential elections for Fifa will be held on February 26 next year.