After a days-long effort to complete service, law enforcement in Trinidad and Tobago has successfully delivered a court order to People’s National Movement (PNM) General Secretary Foster Cummings, compelling the ruling political party to disclose full financial and administrative records related to the multi-million-dollar construction of its Port of Spain headquarters, Balisier House.
The process of serving the order faced unforeseen delays after police first attempted to deliver the document to Cummings last Friday, with no success. Officers ultimately intercepted Cummings shortly after 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday at Piarco International Airport, as the party official re-entered the country following an overseas trip. Two officers from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) Special Branch pulled Cummings aside for a private conversation, walked him through the details of the court order, and confirmed he accepted and signed for the document, according to anonymous sources familiar with the process.
Two days before the successful service at the airport, on the prior Tuesday, uniformed police constables had already visited Balisier House to collect background details about the property’s trustees and management structure. When they arrived, they were told Cummings was not present at the party’s headquarters, and were redirected to PNM chairman Marvin Gonzales to receive the request. As of this update, Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles remains outside of Trinidad and Tobago and has not issued a public statement on the proceedings.
The legal action stems from a High Court ruling granted last Friday by Justice Margaret Mohammed, which approved the TTPS’s request for a Preliminary Unexplained Wealth Order (PUWO) against the PNM and its trustees. Under the terms of the court’s approval, police had a seven-day window to complete service of the order to the named respondents.
The investigation into Balisier House’s construction funding has been unfolding for months. On July 10, 2026, TTPS Commissioner Allister Guevarro appointed Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramdath Phillip to lead the probe, and authorized Phillip to file the PUWO application with the High Court. The request was submitted in line with Section 58(1) of Trinidad and Tobago’s 2019 Civil Asset Recovery and Management and Unexplained Wealth Act, legislation designed to help authorities investigate and recover assets obtained through criminal activity.
In the court filing, Phillip names the PNM’s trustees as the first respondent and the PNM, represented by its general secretary, as the second respondent. The application was filed as an ex parte proceeding, meaning only the police side presented argument to the court for the initial order, a standard process for this type of investigative court tool.
According to the filing, investigators uncovered the property in question during a probe into an unspecified “specified offence” under the act. The application lays out four key grounds for suspicion laid out by investigators: first, that the total combined wealth of the respondents exceeds the total value of assets they have obtained through legal means; second, that the total value of the relevant assets exceeds TT$500,000; third, that the Balisier House property is either owned by the respondents or under their effective control; and fourth, that the property was acquired through the commission of a specified criminal offence.
Police are asking the High Court to force the PNM and its trustees to submit formal sworn declarations of assets and respond to detailed questions about the origins of the funding used to build the headquarters. A PUWO functions as a unique investigative tool under the 2019 act, allowing law enforcement, with prior court approval, to compel individuals or organizations to explain the source of assets when reasonable suspicion exists that the wealth was generated through unlawful activity.
The PUWO application was signed by Phillip on July 10, 2026, and stamped by the High Court the same day, after review by Justice of the Peace Kimberly Prescott. Court documents show Commissioner Guevarro is represented in the proceeding by King’s Counsel Anthony Peto KC and junior counsel Thomas Cleaver of London’s Blackstone Chambers, with local attorney Dayadai Harripaul acting as instructing counsel for the case.
In response to the police action, PNM chairman Marvin Gonzales has rejected the investigation as a politically motivated witch-hunt, marking the first formal public pushback from the party against the court proceedings.