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CARIBBEAN TODAY

n e WS


December 2009


Federal filing error places Caribbean American Guyanese-born N.Y. cop jailed

congresswoman among richest U.S. lawmakers for 2007 murder of ex-fianc6e


WASHINGTON, D.C A fed-
eral filing error on the part of
Caribbean American
Congresswoman Yvette
Clarke's office mistakenly land-
ed her among the top 25 rich-
est United States congressper-
sons, a CaribWorldNews exclu-
sive investigation revealed.
 CaribWorldNews last
month noted that the Center
for Responsive Politics (CRP)
listed Clarke with an average
net worth of some $30 million
obtained in 2008 alone.
According to the group's web-
site, which analyses the top
wealthiest U.S. lawmakers,
Clarke ranked at 24 out of the
top 25 with assets in two invest-
ment funds totaling $10,000,002
to $50,000,000, respectively.
 But the congresswoman's
office later clarified that it was
a huge error, based on her
office filling out the federal
paperwork erroneously by
ticking the wrong income
bracket.
 CRP's Communications
Director Dave Levinthal
admitted by e-mail that it was
an error and the group had
subsequently received the
congresswoman's amended fil-


Clarke


ing, which reflected a substan-
tially lower net worth, closer
to around $100,000, excluding


NEED


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NEW HIP?


liabilities.


QUEENS, New York A
Guyanese-born, New York
City cop, who killed the
woman he was once engaged
to marry, will have to spend
the next 25 years to life in
prison.
 Harry Rupnarine, 39, was
last month given the maximum
sentence for the May 10, 2007
murder. His sentencing came
just two months after a Queens
Supreme Court jury found him
guilty of killing Guiatree
Hardat, 22, on Atlantic
Avenue in Woodhaven,
Queens.
 The shooting was a deadly
end to the couple's tumul-
tuous two-year relationship,


WASHINGTON, D.C. Two
confirmed picks by the admin-
istration of United States
President Barack Obama, for
ambassadorial posts in the
Caribbean, plus a recent nom-
inee, raised more than $1.4
million for the 2008 presiden-
tial campaign committee,
according to a watchdog
group here.
 Research from the Center
for Responsive Politics (CPR)
reveals that Nicole Avant, the
new U.S. ambassador to The
Bahamas, raised $800,000 for
Team Obama in his bid for
president. She is at the top of
the list of donors-turned-
ambassadors.
 Michael Beckel, writing
for CRP's site OpenSecrets,
noted that most of Obama's
top donors are now being
rewarded with cushy ambassa-
dorial posts. Avant, who took
up post as the 13th U.S.
ambassador to The Bahamas
on Oct. 22, has no foreign pol-
icy experience, but worked
largely in the entertainment
field.
 She is the daughter of
entertainment industry legend
Clarence Avant and philan-
thropist Jacqueline Avant.
Prior to her appointment, she
was vice president of Interior
Music Publishing and Avant
Garde Music Publishing (1998-
2009) and was the Southern
California finance co-chair-
woman of the Barack Obama
Presidential Campaign.
T&T'S GAIN
 Beatrice Wilkinson
Welters, Obama's current pick
for ambassador to the oil rich
nation of Trinidad and
Tobago, raised $500,000 for
the campaign, according to
CRP, and ranks fifth among


Hardat's friends and relatives
had said.
 Rupnarine, in his defense,
had claimed he had acciden-
tally killed Hardat with his 9
mm service Glock while trying
to shoot two knife-wielding
thugs.
 Rupnarine was a former
Brooklyn Transit Task Force
cop who took the post after
graduating from the Police
Academy in July 2005. He had
met Hardat while patrolling
the Crescent Street subway
station in Brooklyn, shortly
after becoming a cop.
- CaribWorldNews
0


the top givers to date who
have been tapped by Obama
to serve as U.S. ambassadors
overseas. She, along with her
family, contributed $28,400 to
Obama's campaign, while her
husband contributed the legal
maximum of $4,600 to Obama
during the 2008 presidential
campaign. Her sons, Bryant, a
college student at Notre
Dame, and Andrew, a high
school student here, also
gave the maximum amount,
according to records filed
with the Federal Election


Beatrice WilKinson Welters, the new U.b.
ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, and
husband Anthony.

Commission, even though
both were classified as "not
employed/student".
 Wilkinson Welters, who
now faces a Senate confirma-
tion, also has no foreign serv-
ice experience, but is a former
IBM engineer turned non-
profit chair.
 Vinai Thummalapally, the
current U.S. ambassador to
Belize, raised $100,000 for the
campaign and ranks in the
bottom five of fundraisers-
turned-ambassadors.
Thummalapally, who was con-
firmed as U.S. ambassador to
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)


Bankrollers are Obama's

Caribbean ambassadors


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