Complaint Review: Calmaquip Engineering Corporation

This was not done to me personally. However I stumbled upon the article today. I work for an engineering company as well. This has had an impact on me because it is unfair that some companies such as ours work so hard to bring home such a small profit every year if any at all and there are companies such as Calmaquip that can get away so easily with acts as this... easy money for nothing. And what's sad is that they exploit countries such as Trinidad, third world countries now in the stages of development, entrusting the great big american companies to help them develop.

This company should absorb this cost. The CEO was made to be $2000000 bail.. this is really too little compared to the rip off made. This company should be made to shut down and make a huge pay off to everyone that it has ripped off. I have been to this so called new airport. The baggage system for example that the company installed, is basic and of poor quality. This is just one of the examples. Why not have someone pay a visit and see the work of this company. You can research more articles on the net. The one here is just the most recent (today).

This was taken from an online article located at:
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=46832531

SUSPECT COUGHS UP $2M

AG, US citizen negotiate surrender deal

By Hayden Mills

Thursday, November 18th 2004

Raul Gutierrez, who surrendered to the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB) on allegations of corruption arising out of the Piarco International Airport, leaves the Port of Spain Magistrates' Court yesterday after securing bail. Photo: STEVE Mc

Negotiations between officials of the Attorney General's Office and an American suspected of fraud in the Piarco Airport Development Project has led to the man surrendering to local police and paying $2 million in cash to secure his bail yesterday.

Raul Gutierrez, the chief executive officer of Florida-based Calmaquip Engineering Corporation surrendered to local police yesterday and was charged with fraud in relation to the billion-dollar Piarco Airport Development Project.

The Coral Gables, Florida, man appeared before Senior Magistrate Lianne Lee Kim in the Port of Spain Magistrate's Fourth (A) Court, and was quickly out of custody after securing his bail with a $2 million cheque.

The Express understands that he surrendered to the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB) yesterday, and was subsequently charged by bureau head Snr Supt Maurice Piggott.

Gutierrez was represented in court by Pamela Elder SC, while Deputy DPP Carla Brown-Antoine appeared for the State.

In her application for bail before Lee Kim, Elder said her client should be granted bail because he had no previous or pending charges, and also because he had surrendered to the police.

Since Gutierrez had no property in Trinidad and Tobago, Elder asked that cash bail be set and recommended that bail be set the $2 million.

Browne-Antoine had no objection to bail or the sum recommended by the defence, "once an appropriate way of posting the bail was followed".

Lee Kim then granted the $2 million bail and ordered that the certified cheque be made out to Clerk of the Peace of the Magistracy of St George West.

The matter was adjourned to November 30, when Gutierrez will join other former government ministers, public officials and prominent business-people in appearing before Magistrate Ejenny Espinet in the Port of Spain Magistrate's First Court.

Gutierrez, along with fellow Americans Ronald Birk and Eduardo Hillman are jointly charged with former finance and tourism minister Brian Kuei Tung, former works and transport minister Sadiq Baksh, business executives Steve Ferguson, Ishwar Galbaransingh, Amrith Maharaj, Ameer Edoo, Tyrone Gopee, Peter Cateau, Edward Bayley, Renee Pierre, businesses Northern Construction Ltd, Calmaquip Engineering Corporation, Maritime Life (Caribbean) Insurance Ltd, Maritime General Insurance Company Ltd and Fidelity Finance and Leasing Company Ltd, on a main charge of conspiring between, January 1, 1995, and December 31, 2001, to obtain contracts and payments of a total face value of $1.6 billion during the construction of the new airport.

Sources said last night that Birk and Hillman of the firm Birk and Hillman are resisting extradition from the US, but the AG's office is expected to request it.

Brent Peterson
Miami, Florida
U.S.A.