A major political controversy has unfolded in Trinidad and Tobago this week, as Port of Spain South Member of Parliament and opposition figure Keith Scotland has issued a firm denial of any close association with Andre Monteil, former treasurer of the opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) and head of the now-defunct Flavorite Foods Ltd. The dispute centers on allegations of professional misconduct tied to a $2.4 million unpaid electricity debt owed by Flavorite Foods to the state-run Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC).
Speaking at an official PNM press conference hosted at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition in Port of Spain, Scotland pushed back against multiple claims leveled by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who first raised accusations of collusion and improper conduct last week during parliamentary debate. Persad-Bissessar has alleged Scotland, who is a trained barrister, and members of his former legal chambers acted negligently to pursue a so-called “phantom lawsuit” over the outstanding debt, allowing the claim to become statute-barred through false procedural misrepresentations to protect Monteil. The Prime Minister has already ordered a formal probe by the national Fraud Squad and backed T&TEC’s planned legal action against the MP.
Scotland has consistently maintained he has done nothing wrong in the case. Responding to T&TEC’s recently issued pre-action protocol letter threatening formal litigation, Scotland confirmed he has already received the document and will instruct his legal team to mount a formal response. He also criticized the unauthorized leak of the confidential legal letter, noting that the document was circulated to every major media outlet in the country almost immediately after it was delivered, before the ink on the correspondence was even dry. He confirmed he will treat the legal and political allegations against him with the full seriousness and gravity they demand.
Addressing the core claim of a close personal and professional tie to Monteil, Scotland told reporters that he has only met the former PNM official once in his entire life, in a passing, casual setting. “There is absolutely no relationship between myself and Andre Monteil,” Scotland insisted to assembled journalists.
On the procedural claims around the debt recovery lawsuit, Scotland presented official stamped court documentation to back up his assertion that the claim was properly refiled, that an entry of default judgment was correctly processed, and that the matter is currently awaiting a routine query from the court registrar. He also noted that national public health emergency provisions enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic had legally suspended statutory limitation periods for civil claims, invalidating the claim that the debt had become unrecoverable through procedural fault.
Scotland further clarified that he voluntarily suspended his private legal practice when he joined the national Cabinet in July 2024, separating his professional legal work from his political duties.
In the most high-profile rebuke to the Prime Minister, Scotland issued a repeated public challenge to Persad-Bissessar, calling on her to repeat the damaging allegations she made against him in the protected chamber of parliament in a public setting outside the legislature, where he would be able to pursue legal redress for defamation.