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A shocking plot to assassinate sitting Trinidad and Tobago Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath has prompted authorities to ramp up his personal protection, after a detained gang member confessed to police that a former government minister offered him $250,000 to carry out the killing. The heightened security detail now includes specialized protection from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) Special Branch, a unit tasked with high-risk security assignments for public officials. The full details of the plot have emerged from a sworn statement given to investigators at the Carenage Police Station, dated December 4, 2025, by the suspect who is currently in police custody on unrelated criminal charges.

According to redacted excerpts of the statement obtained by the Sunday Express, the alleged plot was first set in motion in November 2025. The gang member told investigators he was searching for a high-paying job through a relative, who connected him to a former government minister that owned a local club in McBean. When the suspect approached the ex-minister asking about work, complaining that other connected figures were securing large government contracts, the former official offered him a far more dangerous opportunity: a $250,000 payment to eliminate Padarath, whom the ex-minister criticized as overly outspoken.

In the confession, the suspect quoted the former minister as saying he would provide all the logistical support needed for the attack, including firearms, vehicles, and detailed information on Padarath’s schedule and locations. The former minister also instructed the suspect to recruit additional accomplices and warned him to keep the plot completely secret. To solidify the agreement, the ex-minister reportedly handed the suspect an upfront payment of $3,000, calling it a “sweetener” to secure his cooperation and pressured him to complete the assassination as quickly as possible.

When questioned by investigators, the suspect confirmed he understood the phrase “get rid of” Padarath meant killing him, noting the former minister made a throat-slitting gesture to clarify his intent. The ex-minister also described Padarath to the hitman as a talkative, slim Indo-Trinidadian government minister in the current UNC administration, adding that the minister “talks too much” and “had to go.”

The suspect told police he had never previously accepted a contract killing, though he admitted to carrying out smaller acts of violence for his relative, including assault, intimidation, and needle injection to threaten targets. He added that the relative connected him to the plot because he assumed the suspect had prior experience with violent criminal work. When told of the $250,000 payout, the suspect said he immediately thought the former minister must be insane, calling the offer to kill a sitting sitting government minister shocking even to him.

Beyond the assassination plot, the suspect also made additional allegations against the former minister, claiming the official runs a large criminal network that traffics cocaine from Colombia and smuggles firearms from both the United States and Colombia through the Port of Point Lisas, with ties to multiple gangs across Trinidad and Tobago. He also named another associate of the former minister who he says manages the drug and weapons smuggling operations.

The suspect explained he chose to confess to the plot while in custody because he feared for his life outside of detention. He claimed the criminal network has corrupt police officers on its payroll at multiple stations across the country, describing the operation as a well-organized “big organization” that would target him if he spoke publicly about the plot while free. As a result of the confirmed plot, authorities have moved quickly to expand Padarath’s security to neutralize the threat to the sitting minister’s life.

A high-profile case centered on the construction of the People’s National Movement (PNM)’s multimillion-dollar Port of Spain headquarters, Balisier House, is poised to become a groundbreaking precedent for Trinidad and Tobago’s relatively new unexplained wealth legislation, marking the first documented application of the law in legal proceedings involving a major political party. This assessment comes from attorney Saira Lakhan, who shared her analysis in a WhatsApp response to inquiries from the Sunday Express, following a recent High Court ruling granting an order compelling the PNM to disclose full details of the funding that supported the building’s development. High Court Justice Margaret Mohammed issued the compulsory disclosure order, opening the door for what legal experts say will be a defining moment for the nation’s anti-illicit wealth framework.

Lakhan emphasized that the case gives domestic courts an unrivaled opportunity to clarify the boundaries and operational mechanics of a law that has only been on Trinidad and Tobago’s books for a few years. “What makes the Balisier House matter unique is that, to the best of my knowledge, this marks the first reported use of the country’s unexplained wealth legislation in proceedings that directly involve a political party,” Lakhan explained.

Beyond its status as a first-of-its-kind political case, Lakhan noted the proceedings will produce much-needed judicial clarity on how the legislation applies to political party-linked assets, resolving lingering uncertainties around core questions including formal ownership structures, de facto control of assets, identification of eligible respondents in such cases, and the scope of financial disclosure required under the law.

Crucially, Lakhan cautioned that the court’s approval of this preliminary order does not equate to a formal finding of illegal activity or proof that the funds used to build Balisier House were obtained through unlawful means. “A Preliminary Unexplained Wealth Order is not a final ruling of criminal misconduct, nor does it constitute a definitive determination that the property in question was acquired with funds from illegal sources,” she clarified.

This case is not the first time Trinidad and Tobago’s courts have examined the country’s unexplained wealth framework. Prior high-stakes proceedings involving multiple individuals — including David and Kendra Neeranjan, and several parties connected to the estate of Sheldon Spring — led to a major review of the legislation by the Court of Appeal in 2023. Those cases ultimately advanced to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which delivered its binding judgment in *Richard Taylor, Assistant Superintendent of Police v Natalie Natasha Spring and another* on April 29, 2026.

In that ruling, the Privy Council addressed key foundational questions for the legislation: the standard of evidence required to establish reasonable suspicion of unlawful wealth, whether law enforcement can rely on investigations conducted before the law came into effect, and whether a Preliminary Unexplained Wealth Order can be issued against the estate of a deceased person. The appellate body dismissed the appeal and upheld the Court of Appeal’s original ruling. Lakhan explained that the judgment confirms reasonable suspicion required under the act can draw on pre-legislation investigations, so long as the suspicion remains active at the time the application is filed.

Lakhan also pointed to lessons from jurisdictions like the United Kingdom, which has more experience with unexplained wealth regimes, that can guide Trinidad and Tobago as authorities expand their use of these anti-corruption tools. “One of the clearest takeaways from international experience is that legislation by itself is not enough. Its effectiveness hinges on the quality of underlying investigations, the specialized expertise of the legal and investigative professionals involved, and the fairness and independence of the judicial process,” she said.

Unexplained wealth probes regularly involve tangled cross-border financial transactions, complex corporate structures, opaque beneficial ownership arrangements, and assets held through shell companies, trusts, nominee holders or third parties, Lakhan noted. As a result, these investigations demand specialized skills from investigators, forensic accountants, legal counsel and other trained professionals.

“For the legislation to work effectively and retain public trust, every application must be backed by thorough investigation and sufficient credible evidence,” she added. As use of the law becomes more common, Lakhan argued that greater transparency will be critical to maintaining public confidence. She proposed that authorities consider publishing regular aggregated statistics on the volume of applications filed, the number of preliminary and final orders granted, the total value of assets recovered through the framework, and the final outcomes of all proceedings.

Lakhan stressed that public trust in the unexplained wealth regime will rise or fall based on consistent, impartial application of the law — particularly in high-stakes cases with political implications. “Public confidence depends on both the reality and the perception that the legislation is applied consistently and independently, regardless of the political affiliation, social standing or influence of any person or entity involved,” she said.

She further clarified that unexplained wealth legislation should be understood as one component of a broader national framework to combat money laundering, organized crime and the illegal accumulation of assets. It is not intended to replace thorough criminal investigations, respect for due process, or formal criminal prosecution in cases where evidence supports criminal charges.

When asked whether the decision to hire a UK King’s Counsel signals the unusual complexity of these cases, Lakhan noted that Trinidad and Tobago’s still-evolving unexplained wealth legal framework often requires specialized outside expertise as the law develops. The use of international counsel should be evaluated based on the specific legal issues at hand, and is not an extraordinary practice: both the state, private clients and other entities regularly retain overseas legal professionals depending on the unique circumstances of a given case.

“The hiring of King’s Counsel or other external legal counsel is not inherently unusual,” Lakhan said. She explained that the selection of counsel is shaped by a range of practical factors, including the nature of the proceedings, the specific experience and expertise required for the novel or complex legal questions at hand, the availability of qualified counsel, the composition of the broader legal team, and cost considerations.

Lakhan concluded that unexplained wealth law remains a developing area of practice in Trinidad and Tobago. The governing legislation, the Civil Asset Recovery and Management and Unexplained Wealth Act No. 8 of 2019, has already been reviewed by both the domestic Court of Appeal and the Privy Council, a fact that underscores the ongoing evolution of legal standards for these proceedings.

More than a decade after being swept up in a high-profile 2011 anti-crime dragnet that he claims was a politically fabricated frame-up, a 60-year-old Trinidadian man is still demanding official compensation for the irreversible damage done to his reputation, livelihood and family bonds.

Ashmeed Mohammed, who now runs a small chicken processing operation and maintains a small farm in the rural community of Rio Claro, is one of approximately 17 Muslim men detained in August 2011 over unsubstantiated claims that they had plotted to assassinate then-Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, her Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, and multiple sitting cabinet ministers. The false plot was the core justification the ruling United National Congress (UNC) government used to impose a nationwide state of emergency that lasted from August 21 to December 5 that year, a move framed as a aggressive response to rising violent crime at a time when the opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) was heavily criticizing the administration for failing to address public safety concerns.

Mohammed says the entire assassination plot narrative was invented from thin air to shore up the UNC’s political standing, with local Muslim communities deliberately targeted to create the illusion of decisive action against a major national threat. He points to what he calls a deeply suspicious coincidence: the date the government claimed the plot was scheduled to launch was exactly the day authorities carried out the coordinated arrests. At the time of his arrest, Mohammed was running a successful import business out of La Romaine, supplying cooking oil to local Chinese restaurants along with event rental equipment like tents, tables and chairs. He was arrested immediately after leaving a bank, where he had just processed a wire transfer to China for an incoming shipment. Police surrounded him with drawn weapons, detaining him on initial claims of illegal weapons and drug possession.

Over the course of his two-week detention, Mohammed says authorities never presented a shred of evidence linking him to any criminal activity, nor did any senior official question him about the alleged assassination plot. It was not until three days after his arrest that a police officer at the Santa Rosa detention center privately informed him he was being held on treason charges connected to the purported plot. The officer even acknowledged that many people within law enforcement already suspected the government had manufactured the entire scheme, asking Mohammed to keep their conversation confidential.

He told the *Sunday Express* via WhatsApp that he had no prior connection to 80% of the other men arrested alongside him. Only a handful were familiar acquaintances from his local mosque, including the late Ashmeed Choate, who later died in Syria. Other high-profile detainees named by Mohammed, including David “Buffy” Milliard and Selwyn “Robocop” Alexis, were people he had only heard of before the arrest, never met.

The aftermath of the unfounded allegations destroyed Mohammed’s life piece by piece. Even though he was never charged or convicted of any crime, all of his domestic and international bank accounts were immediately shut down, forcing him to abandon his import business entirely. He describes the experience as both religious targeting of Muslim residents and deliberate economic ruin.

The damage extended far beyond his career, fracturing his entire family. Even some immediate relatives cut off contact with him after his release, many out of fear that police would monitor their homes if they associated with him. Others, he says, were die-hard political loyalists of the UNC who fully accepted the government’s false narrative and believed he genuinely planned to harm party leadership. Mohammed, who even had a personal and business relationship with a sitting UNC cabinet minister at the time of his arrest—their wives were both connected to the local Chinese community, and the pair socialized regularly—says this political blind spot affects hardline supporters of both major Trinidadian parties, acting as a form of brainwashing that stops voters from acknowledging wrongdoing by their preferred group. Ironically, the minister Mohammed was supposedly part of a plot to kill was the same official he had counted as a personal friend. When Mohammed sought an explanation from him days after his release, the minister flew into a rage and dismissed him out of hand; now that the minister is out of office, Mohammed says he greets him with friendly hugs whenever they meet.

Unable to face the constant stigma and public scrutiny in La Romaine, Mohammed retreated to rural Rio Claro, where he has kept a low profile ever since. He has spent hundreds of thousands of Trinidadian dollars on legal efforts to secure compensation from the state, but all attempts have failed. Looking back, he says he and the other exonorated detainees made a mistake by pursuing the case through the courts rather than pushing aggressively for an out-of-court settlement, adding that he believes the government once offered a settlement that the group failed to negotiate properly.

Now that the UNC has returned to national power, Mohammed says the administration has a moral obligation to redress the injustice it committed. For his part, he says he would accept a grant of state land to expand his current farming business as fair compensation, arguing that after more than a decade of harm, the government can even resolve the matter off the official record if it chooses. “The lies told by the government left a lasting stain on my name and my life,” he says. “All I want now is what is fair for me and my family, who have paid this price alongside me.”