FRANCIS JOSEPH Thursday, October 26 2006

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EDUARDO HILLMAN-WALLER..to plead guilty on November 6...

TWO MORE persons pleaded guilty in a Miami court yesterday to charges of conspiracy, money laundering, wire and bank fraud arising out of the construction of the $1.6 billion Piarco Airport Terminal building project.

Leonardo Arturo Mora-Rodriquez, a national of Colombia, and Armando Paz, a former treasurer, chief financial officer and Director of Calmaquip Engineering Corporation, pleaded guilty before Judge Paul Huck in the United States District Court.

On Tuesday, Rene Diaz De Villegas, a former vice-president and director of Calmaquip, and Ricard Lacle, a resident of Aruba, pleaded guilty to the same charges. They were all released on bail and would be sentenced on January 16 next year after the usual probation investigations in Florida.

Apart from the guilty four, four other persons and two companies were indicted by the Grand Jury. Raul Gutierrez, the President and Director of Calmaquip, and Eduardo Hillman-Waller, co-owner of Birk Hillman Consultants, will plead guilty before the same judge on November 6.

Trinidadian businessmen Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson, who were also indicted, are fighting their extradition to the United States. They were arrested in July on a provisional warrant, but before the extradition case could begin before Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls, they filed for judicial review, challenging their extradition.

The judicial review hearing will be heard on December 18 and the extradition proceedings have been put on hold. The Grand Jury also indicted Calmaquip and Galbaransingh’s company, Northern Construction.

According to the Grand Jury indictment, the accused conspired to fix the 1996 bid process to secure construction contracts for Piarco Airport in Trinidad. Calmaquip was competing for a contract to supply loading bridges, security systems, baggage handling and other equipment.

As part of the conspiracy, the firm overseeing the construction, Birk Hillman, which operated out of Miami and Orlando, allegedly rewrote the bid requirements to eliminate Trinidadian competitors, the indictment says.

According to the indictment, those involved in the scheme even arranged for a shadow company to submit an exaggerated bid so Calmaquip’s bid would appear more competitive, according to a paper trail of faxes.

It alleges the shadow company, called SDC, failed to disclose it shared corporate officers, directors and a business location with Calmaquip.

Among the evidence that linked the two companies, according to the indictment: Calmaquip bought two rubber stamps from a Miami firm that carried the name and insignia of its shadow competitor.

Birk Hillman had estimated the loading bridges and other equipment would total $15 million, the indictment says. But the Trinidad airport authority accepted Calmaquip’s $30 million bid.

Hillman-Waller and Gutierrez were charged in Trinidad with conspiracy to defraud the TT Government.