HGP Nightly News – Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall says the Mohamed family still owes millions of dollars in court-ordered costs to the State, despite a highly publicised attempt to settle part of the debt using wheelbarrows filled with coins.
Speaking on his weekly programme, Issues in the News, Nandlall outlined several legal matters in which costs were awarded against the Mohameds, saying many of those sums remain unpaid. He said the unpaid amounts include recent and previous cost orders arising from cases involving the State.
According to the Attorney General, one of those matters involved a constitutional challenge filed by the Mohameds against the Fugitive Offenders Act. He said the State successfully defended the matter after the applicants withdrew their appeal on the same day it was scheduled to be heard. As a result, the State was awarded $500,000 in costs last week.
Nandlall said that sum is only one part of what remains outstanding. He stated that the Mohameds also owe $3 million in costs from a separate matter before the Court of Appeal, adding that he has already written to them on the issue but has received no response.
The Attorney General also revisited the widely publicised incident in which one of the Mohameds went to the Attorney General’s Chambers with two wheelbarrows containing coins. Nandlall said the individual was expected to pay $2 million but brought what he estimated to be about $100,000 in coins.
He noted that under the law, only $500 in coins could be accepted as payment, leaving most of that amount still outstanding. According to him, approximately $99,500 from that particular sum remains unpaid.
Nandlall said other court-ordered sums are also still outstanding in separate matters. He rejected claims that he is unfairly targeting the Mohameds, saying his role includes recovering costs owed to the State by persons who lose cases against it.
“These matters are still outstanding. This is the disrespect,” Nandlall said.
The Attorney General described the wheelbarrow incident as an apparent attempt to ridicule the authority of the court, but argued that the gesture had backfired. “So, this little circus and this little attempt at ridicule have really backfired against him,” he said.
He stressed that court orders are legally binding and must be obeyed, stating that they impose “uncompromising obligations” on those against whom they are issued.
