Colin Campbell - file photo
Former People's National Party (PNP) General Secretary, Colin Campbell, has revealed that he provided Dutch oil lifting firm Trafigura Beheer with the bank account number for Colin Campbell Our Candidate (CCOC) Association.
He said CCOC bank account was created by PNP supporters in the run-up to the 1993 general election.
Mr. Campbell said he provided the account number in his capacity as PNP General Secretary. But he insisted Trafigura had no business connections with CCOC.
The former PNP official began giving evidence on Wednesday morning - day three of the hearing into the controversial $31 million donation by Trafigura to the PNP in 2006.
Mr. Campbell revealed that Trafigura's Chief Executive Officer, Claude Dauphin, had specified that the bank account into which he would make the controversial $31 million donation should have no link to any political party.
He testified in the Supreme Court that the request that the bank account not be linked to a political party came after Mr. Dauphin indicated that he wanted to make a donation to the PNP.
He said he met with Mr. Dauphin when the businessman visited Jamaica to secure a photograph with former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller after she was named one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes Magazine.
On Monday, the court heard that $30 million of the $31 million paid into the account of CCOC by Trafigura was later transferred to the SW Services/Team Jamaica account.
On Wednesday, Mr. Campbell testified that SW Service/Team Jamaica was one of several bank accounts owned by the PNP and was a national campaign account.
He said the SW Services bank account was created to conceal the identity of donors, explaining to the Director of Public Prosecution's office that most donors would not want their contributions to be publicly known unless they were committed to the party - hence, the accounts were created so they would feel comfortable donating.
Former PNP Chairman Robert Pickersgill is to begin testifying via Zoom when the matter continues on Thursday.
The Dutch company is under investigation in The Netherlands to determine whether it made a donation to the PNP. Campaign donations are prohibited in that country.
The former PNP officials are not on trial but are testifying in the matter, based on provisions under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters treaty.
The treaty allows signatory countries to ask for help in producing documents and questioning witnesses.
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