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The
State, The Gockings and War SUV's |
Unites States Customs recently teamed up with Trinidad & Tobago Customs Preventive Branch officers to raid the New York homes of brothers Troy and Clint Gocking whose imports of two fully armoured SUVs continues to stir controversy in Trinidad & Tobago.
The Trinidad Guardian confirmed that T&T preventive officers were recently in Brooklyn where they joined US Customs in searches of several premises and in questioning brothers Troy and Clint Gocking.
The Gockings have come under the scrutiny of T&T Customs and intelligence agencies investigating their import of two Lincoln Navigator sport utility vehicles (SUV) from the US. The brothers imported the left-hand-drive SUVs claiming they intended to return home to live after a short six-year stay in the US.
The brothers had received exemptions as returning nationals early April, but a subsequent thorough examination by customs and police officers revealed that the vehicles were equipped to conceal arms, and had other defensive mechanisms. The vehicles are custom fitted with bullet-resistant windows and steel-reinforced doors and under carriage.
On April 26, Comptroller of Customs Kawanhar Doopan deemed the imported vehicles to be prohibited goods under Section 45 (1) and (2) of the Customs Act and made an order to seize them.
The Gocking brothers then filed a constitutional motion challenging the State.
When the matter came up for hearing, the State
was not ready to proceed and the judge ordered that costs be
paid to Gockings' counsel for the day and the airfare for their
mother Loretta who flew here from New York for the hearing. The
matter was adjourned to June 21.The State has since challenged the declared value of the vehicles and have confirmed from US sources that the brothers paid substantially more for the customised vehicles than they declared.
But representatives of the brothers who flew back to New York after they were prevented from driving the cars off the port and are reportedly "scared" to return home for their safety, deny all of the State's claims.
"They're digging to find anything they can to give the State a leg to stand on in the legal matter now before the court. But they [US Customs] found nothing because everything that has been done, has been done above board," one source close to the family said.
The presence of Marlon Gocking, the brothers' uncle, who flew into Trinidad on May 25 to attend the funeral of his niece, Rosalia Gocking-Halfhide, has also been considered an "interesting twist" to the Gocking saga.
Decked in African robe with large gold bangles and other gold jewelry, Marlon Gocking allegedly deposited a large wad of TT$100 bills into the offering at the service for his niece at the St Theresa's RC Church on Saturday, May 26. But in a subsequuent statement said when he pulled his money from his pocket there were several hundred dollar bills but he gave only one.
Police sources said Halfhide was fired from the bank the day before she committed suicide, after an internal investigation unveiled an alleged money laundering scheme in the millions of dollars.
"We're talking big money investments which went unchecked for more than a year. Her lifestyle moved from one of border-line poverty to prosperity in that period and nobody took note until recently. The bank, as their policy usually is, has kept everything hush-hush to avoid the scandal but the paper trail is there," our source said.
But Gocking denied the po;ice allegations. He said Halfhide was forced to resign from her post as supervisor/loans at Royal Bank Independence Square, Port-of-Spain, because she had used money from overdraft.
This prompted an internal investigation by the bank.
"She had full authority to handle my money," he said.
He said she repaid the money and the issue between them was resolved.
"But she looked at it as a profound sense of betrayal and she was not able to deal with it." Gocking said he made legitimate deposits. He said the family was not involved in money-laundering as rumoured by some people.
And in yet another twist the T&T Sunday Express reported that the vehicles were not arbitrarily imported but that the Gockings held discussions with a certain government official months ago and was given permission to bring the vehicles into Trinidad with the accessories they contain. This was confirmed by Marlon Gocking who said, yesterday two former politicians knew about the vehicles before they arrived in Trinidad.
Gocking said: "Patrick Manning know what he (Manning) is talking about when he said the cars were intended for two people in government."
Gocking, who has been living in New York for 23 years, said before the vehicles were imported from New York, he also sought a meeting with Prime Minister Basdeo Panday through an official at Whitehall. He said his request to meet with the PM was not entertained.
a service department supervisor employed with a local car company was aware the vehicles were coming to Trinidad. He said all arrangements were made to have the vehicles serviced by the local company after they were cleared from the port.
Gocking, 45, uncle of Clint and Troy Gocking, said they were purchased from V-Counter Spy Shop at 444 Manhattan Avenue, New York, New York.
A father of seven girls, aged two to 20, Gocking said he was being victimised by persons who are in high office in Trinidad.
He said he attended Temple University in Philadelphia and has two degrees in political science and psychology. He said he has been certified as Teacher 3.
Gocking said in 1982 he returned home with two of his daughters and applied for dual citizenship for them, which they obtained.
He said he also applied to the Ministry of Education to be a teacher. He was unsuccessful. Gocking said he went "job-hunting" at other ministries and at all the interviews he was told he was a "trouble-maker."
He said to date, the Education Ministry has not called him to fill a vacancy.
Gocking said because of the treatment and hostility he received, he will not bring his children to live in "this society." He said if the court matter involving the vehicles turns out in favour of the Gocking family and damages awarded by the court, not one cent would be kept by the family.
Gocking said the money will go towards charitable organisations. He said his family were willing and prepared to go the distance to get back the vehicles.
While the Gockings engage in legal battle to get back their vehicles, T&T Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj said the SUVs will remain in the possession of the State. But he dismissed rumours that the vehicles will be used for his own security.
The Gockings, through their attorneys, Martin George and Company, have written the Comptroller of Customs asking that nothing be done to the vehicles until a decision is made by the High Court. The request was put forward in a letter sent by their attorney.
"Given the public utterances of certain ministerial officials on this matter, our clients have grown anxious and concerned...that something may be done by the Customs and Excise Division or the State to unlawfully deprive them of the use and enjoyment of their property..." the letter stated.
The AG also provided the media with a document containing the details of the armour on the vehicles.
"It is important that the public knows that the vehicles were so equipped in order to prepare itself for military operations," he said.
The document, a Sales Agreement, states the vehicles are armour-plated, using a combination of ballistic steel, composite ballistic material and transparent bullet-resistant glass.
It also describes the perimeter of the vehicle as providing level IV-AK-47 protection, the roof level III-A57 Mag and the floor with grenade protection. The battery is protected with an armoured battery box.
"It seems quite clear that the Comptroller of Customs was justified in making the decision that he did," Maharaj said.
"According to the law, if the goods are prohibited goods, the Comptroller will serve a notice in order to forfeit the vehicles to the State."
The AG added the Government will file its own constitutional motion against the Gockings for an abuse of process since, he said, no constitutional rights have been infringed.
He said the Gockings "filled out a form at the airport and they said they were coming for holidays for a week or so. In the form, which was sent in relation to the vehicles, they said they were returning nationals. Investigations have shown they were not returning nationals coming here to live".
He added that the SUVs are to be given to either the Defence Force or police, and the owners would not be compensated for any payment made for the vehicles.
Under the existing law, he said, "not only the goods are liable to be forfeited, but all moneys paid for duty as well."
And as if all that has happened is not bizarre enough T&T Prime Minister, Basdeo Panday said that the two armoured Lincoln Navigators are believed to be part of a larger fleet destined for Trinidad. Speaking at the closing ceremony of the recent Tradewinds 2001 military exercises at T&T Defence Force headquarters, Chaguaramas, Panday said: "We have intercepted what some consider the first two of a fleet of luxury, special utility vehicles that have been converted into deadly attack vehicles with rocket-launching capabilities."
The brothers claim they have become household names associated with "terrorist factions," and they have been accused of links to a plot to overthrow the Government.
They are seeking a conservatory order to prevent the Comptroller, and, by extension, the State, from seizing the two sport utility vehicles pending the hearing and determination of the motion.
Claiming aggravated and exemplary damages in addition to costs, the Gockings have listed 42 grounds in the motion challenging the decision by the State to confiscate
the vehicles. The brothers are asking the court to declare, among other things, that the State's action to seize the vehicles was unconstitutional.
They are also claiming the Comptroller's decision to ask for import licences for the two vehicles, after the State had exempted them from such a requirement on April 5, was illegal, unconstitutional, irrational, unreasonable, null and void and of no effect. The brothers are arguing that this request was in breach of their rights to a fair hearing.
In the motion, the applicants claim the State contravened their rights to equality of treatment when the Comptroller requested them on April 10 to get import licences, although the vehicles were exempted from such licences by the Trade Ministry.
The Gockings contend that, to date, the Comptroller has failed to give reasons for requiring import licences on April 10, and there has not been any indication from the Trade Ministry that the exemption was revoked.
The Gockings claim they have suffered mental anguish, financial loss and, more distressing, damage to their reputation by the delay by officials in releasing their vehicles.
They said this is compounded by statements made by the acting Police Commissioner Everald Snaggs that the two vehicles gave credence to allegations of a plot to topple the Government.
And Loretta Gocking, mother of Clint and Troy Gocking, said her sons were accused of being terrorists, and having links with the Jamaat Al Muslimeen.
She made the statement in an affidavit on her sons' behalf. The affidavit was filed to support the constitutional motion filed in the High Court by their attorney.
said reports by a T&T daily newspaper that the Lincoln Navigators were shipped to Trinidad from Libya were outrageous. She said her sons were depressed and feel threatened and uncertain.
She said Troy and Clint now fear reprisal and/or retaliation from members of the public who may believe the newspaper reports and consider her sons to be terrorists, wherever they may be seen.
She said since 1991, her sons and husband lived in Queens, New York. She added last year they decided to return to Trinidad to live because of her deteriorating health as well as that of her husband. She has an enlarged heart, suffers with hypertension and has been declared unfit to work.
She said her sons decided to invest in Trinidad by establishing a health food restaurant and grocery. Troy is a manager of Mc Donalds restaurant and Clint works as a chef with airline caterers.
She said in anticipation of their relocation to Trinidad, she and her sons purchased furniture and appliances to take up residence in Diego Martin. She said the vehicles were assessed by Customs as being liable to import duty. She said they paid the sum of $72,646.88 in duties and other taxes to clear each of the two vehicles.
On April 5, she said, this money was paid to the Comptroller of Customs by way of bank drafts. She said having paid the money, she and her customs broker Anton Ramjohn were directed to go to the Customs shed to collect the vehicles.
Gocking said she and Ramjohn waited until noon when Customs officers, Licensing officers and the Police arrived and stripped the two sports utility vehicles. The vehicles were then impounded.