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Brutus withdraws court case against Govt.
…after promising to ‘tell it like it is’ during trial
Kaieteur News – Assistant Commissioner of Police (ASP) Calvin Brutus has withdrawn the constitutional case he had filed against various arms of the State alleging victimization, stemming from an ongoing investigation into his alleged involvement in financial crimes.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ASP) Calvin Brutus
This was revealed by the Attorney General’s Chambers on Friday afternoon. The AG’s chambers shared a document which indicated the withdrawal from the proceedings.
The embattled Assistant Police Commissioner, along with his wife Adonika Aulder, his driver Kevin George, and businessman Asif Zafarally appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to face a series of serious charges. Collectively, they were granted bail exceeding $10 million.
Brutus answered 30 out of a total of 240 charges, which included four counts of misconduct in public office, two counts of larceny as a public officer, two counts of money laundering, and 20 counts related to the liability of officials. He was placed on bail totalling over $6 million for these charges. Brutus was also jointly charged with George and Zafarally, facing two counts of obtaining money by false pretense
Brutus’ wife, Aulder, who is 25 years-old and pregnant, faced two charges of money laundering. The bail amounts for the defendants ranged from $100,000 to $500,000: Aulder was granted $1 million, George received $1 million, and Zafarally was set at $2 million.
The withdrawal of the constitutional motion comes one day after the charges were laid against Brutus. On Wednesday night, Brutus told reporters that there is a background to the charges and all would be revealed in the constitutional case.
Brutus, who has had eight bank accounts belonging to himself, his wife Adonika Aulder, and their businesses frozen—amounting to $500 million frozen — had been under investigation for several months.
The document that was served indicating that Brutus has withdrawn his court action.
Last week, before he was charged, the Assistant Police Commissioner moved to Court filing applications against the Attorney General, Minister of Home Affairs, Police Service Commission, Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), and the acting Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken.
In the court documents, he claimed that he was being victimized during the investigation pointing specifically to the restriction placed on his bank accounts. Brutus was sent on leave to allow for the probe into the allegations made against him. He disclosed that he was not given a fair hearing and that there were several leaks to the media and social media that have prejudiced the case against him. As a result, he sought declarations including that there was a breach of the rules of Natural Justice.
On Wednesday night, following the presence of SWAT and SOCU teams at his living quarters at Eve Leary, Brutus had told reporters that the investigation against him was part of a broader scheme which would be revealed in court.
In response to Brutus’ statement about what will be disclosed in court, Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday at his weekly press conference expressed no fear and encouraged Brutus to ‘let the cat out of the bag’.
“He could let out cats, dogs, pigs, anything that he has and he wants to let out, let him let it out,” Jagdeo said as he downplayed any concerns about potential disclosures that could be made by Brutus.
He stressed that the government has no concerns about what Brutus may reveal. “I think it’s a form of blackmail, he’s hoping that some maybe there be fear in some quarters in the government that he could say something that’s compromising to us and they would relent on ensuring that justice is served,” the Vice President added.
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