FORMER attorney general Faris Al-Rawi gave assurances that Vincent Nelson, KC, would not be prosecuted in the United Kingdom for crimes arising out of the alleged kickback conspiracy.

In a series of text messages with his former attorney Roger Kawalsingh, in October 2018, Nelson said he was concerned that the statement he gave, implicating former AG Anand Ramlogan, SC, and ex-UNC senator Gerald Ramdeen, was disclosed to the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), which is responsible for investigating serious and organised crime.

[caption id="attachment_980887" align="alignnone" width="837"] Vincent Nelson's former attorney Roger Kawalsingh. FILE PHOTOS [/caption]

The NCA had written to Nelson on October 5, 2018, informing him they were in possession of a statement he provided to the TT Government. At the time, the NCA told Nelson he was the subject of a criminal investigation pursuant to the UK Bribery Act, which provided jurisdiction to prosecute a British citizen anywhere in the world.

Nelson’s concern was that the only persons in possession of that statement were himself and Al-Rawi.

Text messages between Al-Rawi and Kawalsingh revealed that the former had said the statement was provided to the UK authorities by Minister Stuart Young, whom Al-Rawi had said to police, was tasked with getting evidence against attorneys named in Nelson's statement.

There were three series of text messages and in the third, Al-Rawi sought to reassure Kawalsingh, telling him Nelson was a whistleblower for the State and a beneficiary of an AG’s indemnity.

AL-RAWI'S

MESSAGE

On October 5, 2018, Al-Rawi wrote:

“Roger I can confirm that Mr Nelson QC as a whistleblower for the state (sic) is the beneficiary of the AG’s indemnity – the NCA is aware of the actual targets in the persons of Ramlogan and Ramdeen and the other English attorneys identified including …(names called) etc.

"The purpose of the NCA investigation is the (sic) secure the evidence on the other targets by confirming what has been provided already. We shall confirm Mr Nelson’s cooperation as a whistleblower,owner…our indemnity is obviously to be honored in full. It is key that the case is advanced with immediacy.”

The two then discussed payment of legal fees which Al-Rawi said was covered by the indemnity agreement.

On October 29, 2018, Al-Rawi said he met with the NCA in person to let them know TT’s only targets were “the lawyers Ramlogan and Ramdeen” and the UK lawyers named.

In that message, Al-Rawi tells Kawalsingh and got them to know Nelson was a whistleblower without whom TT could not succeed. He again gave assurances that they had the indemnity they could rely on.

Nelson was interviewed by the NCA on December 7, 2018, and was indefinitely suspended from the esteemed 39 Essex Street Chambers.

Nelson complained that his statement was disclosed to the Director of Public Prosecutions in January 2019, 13 months after Al-Rawi received it and only after taking a decision to make representations to the NCA to cede its investigations to the Stat