By ROBERT ALONZO, Guardian TT

Three charges have been slapped on UNC political leader Basdeo Panday for failing to declare money he allegedly held in a London bank account.

Panday is to appear before Deputy Chief Magistrate Deborah Thomas-Felix in the Port-of-Spain Eighth Court on November 19.

The charges relating to the London account were laid in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court shortly after 1 pm yesterday.

Director of Public Prosecutions Geoffrey Henderson on Tuesday gave the police the order to charge the UNC leader.

The charges state that Panday failed to declare the London account for the years 1997, 1998 and 1999.

They also state that Panday made a false declaration by failing to declare money held in account No 39036189 at the National Westminster Bank in London in the name of Basdeo Panday and Oma Panday. This, the charges state, was contrary to Section 27 (1)B of the Integrity in Public Life Act No 8 of 1997.

If found guilty, Panday faces a two-year prison term or a maximum fine of $250,000.
Moments after laying the charges, a team of Fraud Squad detectives under Senior Supt Wellington Virgil went to Panday’s home in San Fernando and served him the summonses.

A police source said Panday “appeared dumbstruck” as he was presented with the summonses.

The UNC leader was co-operative, however, the source said.

Last month, Panday’s attorneys in London wrote to the Westminster Bank asking officials not to disclose any information to local detectives about his account.

However, a source revealed last night that by the time Panday sent the request, Virgil and the DPP had already obtained copies of relevant financial documents.

He said the top-secret documents were acquired from sources within the bank and not under the Mutual Assistance Treaty.

The officer said the DPP has found a way to have the documents used as evidence in the case.

The probe into the Westminster account began after information was leaked to the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau.

The Bureau passed the information to the Integrity Commission headed by retired Justice Gerald des Iles.

The Integrity Commission, after asking Panday to explain why he had not declared the account, passed the file to the DPP who then forwarded it to the police for further investigation.

When the story broke in May, Panday denied he held $10 million in a London account. He later said the account belonged to his wife. However, Mrs Panday said she had no $10 million in a London account.

The UNC political leader then said the account had been set up to help pay for his children’s education.

Then at a UNC political meeting in July, Panday said he and his wife had opened a London account in December 1989 when he went to England for open-heart surgery.

When Panday appears in court in November it will be his second trip to court as a defendant since October 1994 when he faced five charges under the Sexual Offences Act. Those charges were dismissed on November 14, 1995.

Last night, the UNC leader refused to speak to reporters gathered outside his home at Gulf View, La Romain.

Accompanied by security and frontline UNC activists, Panday and Oma left at around 8 pm for a political meeting in Diego Martin.