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A High Court judge has condemned the police for what has been described as a “clear and unbridled abuse of power” after a businessman’s passport was unlawfully seized and withheld for nearly six years without justification.

The ruling came in a constitutional claim filed by Marq Maurice, a senior executive chief of APAN Energy Services Ltd, a multinational company operating in the Caribbean and South America. Maurice, who was an independent contractor with APAN since 2014 and later became its chief operations officer, was awarded $140,000 in damages for the violation of his constitutional rights, including the right to property and freedom of movement.

The case stems from a 2018 police raid on the Maurice’s Chaguanas home, during which he and his then fiancée were arrested and charged with possession of a firearm, ammunition, and a small quantity of marijuana. The marijuana charge was later dismissed, and while the criminal matters are still pending, his passport was never part of the evidence in those cases.