JAMP welcomes FID involvement to probe PM's finances

By Prince Moore   

 

Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal says the Financial Investigations Division (FID) will have greater investigative access to dig further into controversial matters surrounding Prime Minister Andrew Holness's statutory declarations.

 

The Integrity Commission has recommended that both the FID and Tax Administration Jamaica examine aspects of the Prime Minister's financial affairs for the years 2019-2022.

 

The commission is recommending that the FID probes the funding and operations of companies associated with Mr. Holness, namely Positive Media, Positive Jamaica Foundation and Greenemerald.

 

Executive Director at JAMP Jeanette Calder said the referral of the matter to the FID further highlights certain limitations of the Integrity Commission. 

 

"Just having a different set of eyes weighing in on the matter would give Jamaicans some amount of comfort and some amount of confidence, particularly for those that are claiming that the commission is having a credibility issue," she asserted, anticipating the outcome of the probe.  

 

Ms. Calder said it is now up to the FID to conclude the ongoing probe into the Prime Minister's financial affairs. 

 

"There are two things the FID could do. It could come back to the country and validate the concerns that the IC has based on the evidence that has been shared with them and that they have checked on themselves, or they could come back and advise the country that the report from the IC is as frivolous as the Prime Minister asserts. Either way, it would be good to have this second opinion corroborating and validating the Integrity Commission's report or dismissing it," she suggested. 

 

"At the end of the day, they have greater powers, greater investigative access and will be able to go further than the Integrity Commission has, to finally put a conclusion and a closure to a matter that not only the Prime Minister but the people of Jamaica are longing to finalise."  

 

In the meantime, Director of Corruption Prosecutions at the Integrity Commission, Keisha Prince-Kameka, has ruled that no criminal charges are to be laid against Mr. Holness for making a false declaration.

 

She cited insufficient evidence to prove he deliberately did not declare four bank accounts in his asset filings.

 

The ruling, tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, stems from a recommendation by the commission's Director of Investigations, Kevon Stephenson.

 

Mr. Stephenson had probed concerns that Prime Minister Holness owned assets disproportionate to his lawful earnings and omitted four joint bank accounts from his statutory declarations between 2019 and 2022.

 

The investigation was triggered by a September 2022 referral from the commissioners of the Integrity Commission who had flagged Mr. Holness's net worth growth of $51.6 million over five years ending December 2021.