Police urge extortion victims to come forward

Senior Reporter

akash.samaroo@cnc3.co.tt

The North Central Division of the T&T Police Service (TTPS) has received seven official reports from Tunapuna business owners of attempts to extort money from them. However, they believe the matter is going underreported.

Division head Senior Superintendent Richard Smith said the first report was made in March and there have been six more since then. He confirmed that one suspect is in custody but said he believes many of the affected business owners are not coming forward to make reports and this could hamper the police efforts to strike back at the criminals.

“When they do make that report, we will have information deriving from all the reports put together. We could come up with intelligence to arrest these persons. When they are coming in one by one, we don’t get the information that we are looking for compared to investigating them in a group,” Smith explained.

He added that this can also help identify trends such as if the same phone number is being used in multiple cases.

“Of course, it’s a major concern for us because extortion has been around for many years and I can tell you the early genesis of this was in the aftermath of the 1990 attempted coup,” he said.

“And now we are seeing a re-emergence of it because we in the North Central believe it is the Resistance Gang responsible for these types of offences. We are in fact doing what we have to do, I won’t get into details, but we are working on it and doing our intelligence and investigations as it relates to finding the perpetrators and charging them.”

President of the Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GTCIC) Ramon Gregorio said extortion is the last thing business owners need in this tough economy.

“These things are crimes of opportunity and at the end of the day businesses have to be wary, it’s par for the course of where we are as a society and if it goes unchecked we will be in a more perilous state,” he said.

Business owners said they are afraid to make reports to the police because they believe their movements are being monitored by criminals.

A former Tunapuna business owner who used to sell food in the area said: “They called me and said we saw you just reached home, and we have to get $25,000.”

The business owner stayed on the phone with the extortionist and drove to the Tunapuna Police Station. On the way, the person on the line suggested they drop the money off at a popular food establishment in Tunapuna.

“And they said if I don’t, they are watching my wife and child in the business right now and they even said right now your son is giving trouble to eat.”

The business owner left his car at the police station but when they got back home the extortionist called and said: “We saw you dropped the car in the station and you’re dead now.”

He promptly closed the business and moved out of the area.

A small retailer received a call in July and was told: “It is your turn now. You have to pay $30,000.”

She made a report to the police and they told her to not block the phone number the person called from and to record them the next time they called.

“I told the police that they called back, and I just closed down the business and moved out of the area. I was not taking a chance,” she said.

“I took five years from nothing to establish that business, started it just before COVID-19, I struggled to build my name to have a little social media presence and now you can’t put your name and number or do basic marketing. And I see why people are leaving the country.”

Smith said people can make those reports on the phone to minimize the risk of being seen going to the police, or they can even speak with him directly to ensure they are protected.

Another area dealing with an upsurge in extortions is Chaguanas.

President of the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce Baldath Maharaj said a promised meeting with the Minister in the National Security Ministry Keith Scotland to discuss the issue could take place in a week or two.

“We requested a closed-door meeting with the full board of directors as well as approximately 20 prominent business owners from Chaguanas rather than a town meeting,” he said.

Business chambers in other parts of the country said they have not received complaints about extortions from their members.

A Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) spokesman said: “No, I would say that we don’t have any information regarding any attempts at extortion in the city or any attempts to blackmail or threaten for the non-payment of ‘taxes’.”

Kiran Singh, President of the Greater San Fernando Area Chamber of Commerce told Guardian Media: “I have to knock on wood and say fortunately I haven’t heard of negative reports of extortion or taxing businessmen in the San Fernando area to date.”

President of the Eastern Business and Merchants Association Ricardo Mohammed, said that “from Sangre Grande go backwards to Toco and Manzanilla, nothing officially reported to us.”

Curtis Williams of the Tobago arm of the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce said: “None of my members have that, none whatsoever.”

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