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Sport Minister Brent Sancho could feasibly find himself reported to the Integrity Commission after leaked documentation showed that CONCACAF money due to the Pro League club was diverted into the minister’s personal bank account.
Sancho is a former World Cup 2006 player and CEO of local Pro League club, Central FC.
(Courtesy SPORTT)
Then Central FC operations manager Kevin Harrison admitted that he directed CONCACAF to wire US$40,000 (TT$253,000) to a United States-based bank account owned by Sancho. Harrison, who is British, also serves as advisor to the Sport Minister and is paid by the Trinidad and Tobago Government.
The CONCACAF payment was supposed to help the “Couva Sharks” with expenses for their trip to Los Angeles where they faced MLS team, LA Galaxy, in the Champions League.
Sancho was appointed as Sport Minister on 2 February 2015 and has repeatedly insisted that he is not involved in Central business due to the obvious conflict of interest.
The Sport Minister declined comment on the payment to his account. However, Harrison tried to clear it up.
Why was CONCACAF directed to send money to Sancho in July, five months after his appointment as Sport Minister?
Harrison suggested that the CONCACAF paperwork happened while Sancho was still Central CEO.
“The only reason I think CONCACAF would have even a record of Brent Sancho,” Harrison told Wired868, “is because we had to apply (for the CONCACAF Champions League) early.”
Wired868 can confirm that Central had not even qualified for the Champions League when Sancho was appointed Sport Minister.
Central only booked its spot in the Champions League on 22 May 2015 after a penalty shoot out win over Haitian club, Don Bosco. And CONCACAF asked qualified teams to send bank details on 28 May 2015.
Why did Harrison not forward the club’s bank details rather than Sancho’s?
“Central didn’t have a US bank account at the time,” said Harrison. “When we filled out all the application forms, the only US account we had access to was Brent’s own. So we put that down for ease of use.”
There is no stipulation that the club needed a US bank account.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
More relevantly, Harrison did not explain why Central did not simply open a US account, since CONCACAF gave the Sharks between May 28 and June 12, roughly two weeks, to provide the necessary bank details.
Interestingly, Sancho did not immediately forward the US$40,000 to Central when he received it. Instead, as the Sharks prepared to face Galaxy, other club officials received word that they were due money for their trip to the United States.
Harrison admitted that there was a time lag before Sancho relayed the money to the relevant club officials. In the interim, Central struggled to get visas and tickets in time and the players travelled to Los Angeles in three batches.
They were subsequently thrashed 5-1 by Galaxy.
“We got an enquiry from Central FC (who asked) did you receive money,” said Harrison, “and lo and behold the money was there (in Sancho’s account). I personally got the cheque from Sancho and gave it to someone at the club.
“It was for (around) US$39,000 because there were some charges…
“As far as I am aware, Central FC then opened an account afterwards and directed CONCACAF money to be sent there.
“I have not been involved with Central FC since. They keep me out of the loop.”
Adams died on 30 December 2013 after failing to recover from a heart attack.
(Courtesy Allan V. Crane/Wired868)
Central FC, the reigning Pro League and Caribbean club champion team, is owned and largely funded by SIS directors and, contrary to common belief, Sancho is not a part-owner.
The relevant SIS officials are rumoured to be now keen to relinquish their role with Central and sell the club to any interested buyer. However, Wired868 could not confirm this potential change in direction and Harrison said he was unaware of any such moves.
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Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
So CONCACAF who represents the Central America and the Caribbean can only fund those that they represent only if they have a US account? Like Lasana Liburd said it doesn’t look good.
A Pro League football club is struggling to send players abroad for a CONCACAF match when officials find out they were due money.
They ask some questions and, lo and behold, the money is in the account of the Sport Minister…
I don’t know what to say about that nah. People will have to decide themselves if it was a smart man who got caught or an honest mistake.
Not saying that Lasana. Merely saying that I don’t see it as a matter for the Integrity Commission because of the nature of the transaction and the fact that the money was returned. It does show a great deal of stupidity though. The US is the last place I would send illicit funds to accumulate.
Is ah feeding frenzy of corruption!
Central FC officials found out they were due money while they were struggling to get players to CONCACAF. And that money they were due was found in the account of the Sport Minister.
Is that really a non-story?
If Central never knew of, nor sanctioned the arrangement then it’s diversion of funds at best, theft at worst. If they did know then it’s really not that big a deal, but a breach of best corporate practices… and common sense. Still, given his status as an MP, and given his recent crusading, it’s a newsworthy item.
Lasana, was the money only returned upon Central FC’S request to Sancho? Further, why didn’t Sancho just open a US Account in Trinidad under Central FC’S name?
All I could say is thank God the UNC didn’t win the THA election.
All now Tobago would have belonged to Grenada!
I mean if yuh have to eat a food eat properly….dat sound like small change
So it is a non-story and I shouldn’t have written it Kendall Tull?
Jevon – if I read this correctly, the funds were not remitted to a TT$ account.
Since wen is a 1000$ is bank charges for small sum…hmm…#taxman
And you know Winsford, the “Joker” still saying that “he believes Kamla is the best person to take T&T forward”? That is “Progress” for you!
Initiation Vernal?
It could not be construed as income Lasana because the payment was not meant for him nor was it kept by him. I therefore don’t see how it is a matter for the Integrity Commission.
And cynicism aside, there is no proof of intent as it stands and the money was returned where it belonged.
Given the spin, I now know how backward the banking sector is in this country.
This was probably Sanko’s maiden foray into the government corruption racket.
Not bad for a first time out!
Sancho’s behavior here, if true, is reminding me of Jack Warner, Anil Roberts and Ashwin Creed! It appears they have banked funds, their ill gotten gains, abroad.
John if you want to get in the rackets Kamla is who you go to!
i just posted this article and captioned, ‘i could insert jack warner where ever i see sancko, right’
I believe you eh Lasana…TT$253,000 is not the UNC’s standards!
And he was lecturing Tim Kee.
Perhaps Kendall Tull. Or, if one were cynical, you could say someone tried a thing that didn’t work.
In any case, I checked with a former MP and this can be an issue for the Integrity Commission. They might have not have known this. But it is not simply a case of “oops.”
As with that other matter we talked about Lasana, stupid but not illegal.
The moment I saw “Sanko” hooking up with UNC I said that whoever Kamla touches becomes corrupt immediately. Now look at this!!
It never look good!
It’s called co-mingling of funds ands it’s always flagged in the banking world. You can’t have company money passing through private accounts. #shadesofjack
If the funds were returned to the club, then this is nothing more than poor management in not opening the account sooner.
but WTA…
Sanko like he eh go the mandatory orientation meeting fuh incoming UNC cabinet ministers.
If he did ah sure he woulda know tuh transfer them funds through several shell bank accounts before it’s final destination!
That party gives then a corruption injection when they sign up ? He just get a ten days appointment , you’re telling me that he already has “snat” in his nose ? Nah man !! Stealing while asking for five more years , amazing !!
Poor financial practice/behavior. This type of banking ill-practice seems to be the norm with many ministers in T&T and they are stupid enough to use the US banking system. If this transaction is true, Sancho had better be careful because the IRS and FBI do not joke. Even if Sancho were still CEO of Central and not the Minister of Sport, no funds from CONCACAF destined for Central or the Sharks should be directed into any personal account of Sancho (local or abroad). Another question arises…. was this an attempt to hide these funds by not depositing the money in a T&T bank?
you launch into this exposition as if laudable purposes were possible…is that how it goes? wow
Kenneth, it is sickening. Trinis just like to ole talk and complain or turn a blind eye if the culprit is a friend, associated with their political party or has some title of authority. This is serious and apparently, common practice. People need to impriosned with hard damn labour.
Look trouble now! And to think he despise Warner so much. He learnt well after him!
“Do onto others as Jack Warner has done onto you”
-Sanko-
True..he come eeennn late..so much food eat over the last 5+ years and he only had 6 months
Wda is this!!
Sanko eh chupid.
As he come een fuh he cobo-sweat he set up he own severance package!
The article clearly says Sancho is not part owner of the club, contrary to popular belief.
Oh Shit
#SEP7
“we put that down for ease of use.”
Ah like that
ok he is the owner of the club what else
He is not the owner of Central FC. Or a shareholder.
Cue Raymond Tim Kee field day…
Eh? JW type of behavior? Interesting!
And cussing Tim Kee for corruption ..Lasana this is fake news 🙂
#ThereMustBeJail
…A bacchanal a day keeps the PP away…
no man…cannot be the same Sancho who cuss Jack coming and going for this SAME THING!!!! Ah lie you ah tell
He didn’t take long to learn the tricks of the trade
This was acceptable nonsense until weeks passed and Sancho said nothing. Had he issued a statement of disclosure; no big deal. He didn’t so now I see him as a smartman. I doh wha hear from he again.
This really isn’t as big a deal as it seems. It reflects poor judgment and unsound business practices, but nothing actually illegal. That being said, it’s commingling of funds, which goes against corporate best practices, exposes Sanko to personal liability should Central ever be sued… and frankly, smacks of hypocrisy, given that this is precisely the sort of thing Jack did with TTFA money (also “for ease of use”) for decades. Not exactly the sort of “transparency and accountability” the Honorable(?) Minister B.S. likes to preach about. Uneasy lies the head…
Thank God Lasana, I learnt all my times tables and basic arithmetic back in Tranquility Boy’s RC school of the early 60’s – ask me any times table quiz and I assure you, I’d never fail my teachers of then – thank you Mrs. Browne, Mr. Inkim, Mr. Jones, Mr. Miller, Principal Osborne, and others. Thank you Shaky (doubles man) and Bella (tamarind and local fruit vendor). As for the contents of this article, about Minister Sancho and the allegations discussed therein, it falls on his plate to explain this happening. I have known Brent for many years and saw him basically as a well-meaning person. But as we have come to know times and a battered moral T&T culture could effect change on persons. Times and circumstances can and do affect people and when one knows and understands the safeness and benefits of “driving” on the highway, but ventures unto the “back” and “side” roads they avail themselves to another set of risks and consequences. I hope that there is a clear and legitimate explanation for this for, Sancho’s political and long-term future are seriously at stake. I know that today’s world has horrendously swayed from the truth, and absolutes and standards can easily be seen as no longer true and as a matter, even detrimental to survival, and this makes decision-making testy. We would do good to remember that, ‘decisions are the hinges on which our future swings’. Our decisions shall always take us to places where good and right prevail. I recall one former Minister saying to me, ‘our society has become plagued, a plague that is sinned with a, “what is in for me” attitude and operational mentality – seek first the kingdom of the earth and its unrighteousness and all of God’s things can be considered in due course. I’m looking forward to the revelations of this story.
And how is this news? Their is no wrong doing I can find in this article so I really do not know how this is news unless the author is trying to play politics with sport.