A landmark High Court ruling in Trinidad and Tobago has ordered the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) and its trustees to publicly disclose the source of millions of dollars used to build its new Port of Spain headquarters, Balisier House, following a corruption investigation launched by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS).
Justice Margaret Mohammed granted the TTPS’s request for a Preliminary Unexplained Wealth Order (PUWO), a powerful investigative tool under the 2019 Civil Asset Recovery and Management and Unexplained Wealth Act, which allows law enforcement to compel entities to explain the origin of assets when reasonable suspicion of unlawful derivation exists. The application for the order was filed July 10, 2026, after the TTPS launched an ongoing probe into the financing and construction of the Balisier House compound between 2018 and 2025.
The investigation, led by Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramdath Phillip—head of the TTPS Legal Department with 23 years of service—names the PNM’s trustees as first respondents and the party, represented by its general secretary, as the second respondent. The case is being handled by a top legal team including King’s Counsel Anthony Peto and junior counsel Thomas Cleaver of London’s Blackstone Chambers, with local instructing attorney Dayadai Harripaul. Both British barristers were called to the local bar immediately before the application was filed.
In a 21-page sworn affidavit filed to support the order, Phillip outlined four core grounds for reasonable suspicion: that the respondents’ total wealth far exceeds the value of assets acquired through lawful means; that their combined wealth exceeds the TT$500,000 threshold set by law; that the Balisier House property is owned or effectively controlled by the respondents; and that the asset was acquired through criminal activity.
The affidavit centers on two structures in the Balisier House compound: a renovated historic “Old Building” and the incomplete, multi-storey “New Building” that became the focus of the probe. A commissioned report from international consultants Berkeley Research Group (UK) Ltd estimates the total completed construction cost of the new headquarters will hit approximately TT$118.4 million, with TT$73.272 million worth of work already finished before works halted.
Phillip emphasized that investigators have uncovered no evidence that the PNM’s declared legitimate funding sources could cover a project of this size. For years, PNM leaders publicly claimed the construction was financed through internal party fundraising, including cruises, a “buy-a-brick” campaign, a ten-car raffle, and sales of branded jewelry from the Balisier Collection. But Phillip noted that even former PNM Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley admitted in a 2024 speech that small donations from members and regular supporters could not cover the project’s costs, and the party has repeatedly refused to disclose the identities of its major financiers.
Investigators found that construction stopped abruptly immediately after the PNM lost the April 28, 2025 general election. Phillip argued in the affidavit that the halt aligns with suspicions of corrupt funding: “I suspect that the demitting of PNM from office brought an end to the corrupt funding of the construction of this building. This is because those who were making corrupt payments then realised it was pointless to pay further bribes to people who were not going to be in office. I believe that is the reason why the building has been left abandoned.” If the project had genuinely relied on independent fundraising, Phillip added, construction would have continued regardless of the election outcome.
The affidavit also lays out detailed allegations of corrupt quid pro quo arrangements between the PNM and private contractors who received favorable treatment on state contracts during the party’s 10-year incumbency from 2015 to 2025. One key case cited is primary contractor Woodgreen Construction Services Ltd, which initially submitted a TT$68.3 million bid for the headquarters contract before cutting the price by TT$9 million to TT$59 million. Phillip alleges the discounted price was a covert bribe to the PNM, and the company was subsequently rewarded with multiple major state housing contracts, including a TT$22 million San Fernando development project in 2019 and the 2023 Citrus Close housing contract. For the Citrus Close project, Phillip notes Woodgreen was not the lowest bidder, yet received a higher cost scoring than a competitor with a far lower bid, with “no obvious legitimate reason” for the decision.
The affidavit also identifies other suspicious payments: a TT$1 million contribution from Amalgamated Security Services Ltd in 2019, a TT$500,000 payment from Kall Co Ltd that same year, and incremental payments from PNM accounts and the party’s Tranquillity Fund between 2018 and 2021. All these combined amount to only a small fraction of the total project cost, investigators found. Phillip further alleges that companies linked to former PNM minister Foster Cummings completed work on the Balisier House project, and those same firms later received more than TT$37.6 million in state contracts and extensions—including a TT$15.6 million extension from the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) just weeks before the 2025 general election, and over TT$22 million in payments from the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) between 2010 and 2022. Investigations into these contract awards are ongoing.
The PUWO now compels the PNM and its trustees to submit formal asset declarations and answer detailed questions about the origins of the funding for Balisier House. In his affidavit, Phillip noted that the investigation has proceeded cautiously over months over fears of information leaks, adding that recent public statements from former Prime Minister Rowley confirmed that sensitive investigation details have already been improperly released. Phillip warned that leaks could allow implicated persons to tamper with evidence and undermine the probe, justifying the urgent ex parte application for the court order.