The investigation into former First Citizens risk officer Phillip Rahaman and his 656,588 share purchase has taken a legal turn as the Government try to build a case. The key players in the case have been asked to keep the investigations and the findings quiet, as publishing the details may hinder a case being built. Rahaman has since been dismissed from the bank.
The Sunday Guardian learned that the report from international accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers was delivered to Howai on Wednesday as expected, but was missing one aspect. The Sunday Guardian was reliably informed that a legal expert was retained as part of the investigative PwC team. Those legal findings are expected to be handed over to the Attorney General, Anand Ramlogan, within the coming week for him to either corroborate or dismiss the PwC’s legal expert findings.
The case, which is still being constructed, will also include findings from the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) and the T&T Securities Exchange (TTSE). The investigations and the findings are being heavily guarded as there are concerns that to much information in the public domain may hamper the case moving forward. The Sunday Guardian was told that Howai “was serious about this” and had insisted that no information reach the media until the investigations were finalised.
In an earlier email interview with the Guardian, Howai did state that the investigative process still needed time. Sitting chairman, Nyree Alfonso initially came to Rahaman’s defence, saying there was no breach with Rahaman’s multi-million dollar purchase. He was, however, dismissed after a board meeting which found they had lost confidence in his ability to perform. Rahaman has not made a public statement since the dismissal.