Ellington, Llewelyn scold Christie

OCG's release of KSAC info hurts probe

BY INGRID BROWN Sunday Observer senior reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, June 19, 2011

THE disappearance of a witness identified in the Office of the Contractor General’s (OCG’s) report of alleged fraud at the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) is being blamed on the OCG’s release of the information to the public before the police were able to complete their investigation.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn and Police Commissioner Owen Ellington have both upbraided Contractor General Greg Christie for compromising the probe and have described the OCG’s news release on the matter as “premature and sensational publicity”.

“I do not know if there is any real prospect of the matter being able to progress to eventually a viable prosecution, and I say this because, when the police got the file it was in the evening after there had been a 24-hour news cycle,” Llewellyn told the Observer Press Club at the newspaper’s head offices in Kingston on Friday.

In a June 7 letter to Christie, Police Commissioner Ellington said “my officers are convinced that the disappearance of the witness and the failure of both our offices to locate said witness for over one week, and our consequential inability to progress this very important investigation, have been caused by the premature and sensational publicity given to this matter in the media, well before critical evidence was secured”.

As such, the police chief, while promising to pursue the matter relentlessly, urged Christie in future to communicate with the constabulary and give them time to complete the early and crucial stages of the investigations before releasing reports on such matters to the media.

In a three-page response to the police commissioner Christie said the first of two correspondence to the police was hand-delivered less than three hours after the media release and not 72 hours as stated by Ellington.

On May 30, the OCG issued a media release informing that it had uncovered a major contract fraud involving a female contractor who admitted to merely acting as a ‘front’ for three parish councillors and a staff member of the KSAC’s Roads and Works Division.

According to the release, the woman co-operated fully with the OCG and disclosed the extent of the alleged scam.

The OCG said the woman identified the three councillors and the staff member under the pain of criminal prosecution.

Last Thursday, the DPP said the matter was not brought to her attention from the OCG’s office but via a copy of the police commissioner’s letter to the OCG.

In the letter, the commissioner pointed to concerns about security of the witness and evidence, obstruction of the process of investigation by interested parties, the disappearance of potential witnesses and those implicated, and the blockage of access by counsel to certain persons, which can arise with the premature publicity of the matter.

It stated further that the police commenced investigations immediately upon receiving the contractor general’s correspondence but have failed in all efforts to locate the witness.

“Addresses given have been visited repeatedly... and the witness has not been found,” the commissioner said.

Ellington also pointed to the similar difficulty an officer from the OCG was experiencing in locating the witness.

On Thursday, DPP Llewellyn said when information is released to the media prematurely it undermines the other stakeholders and partners in the process of getting the matter to court.

“When he (Christie) refers matters and he is facilitated by the media in saying these are criminal referrals, I say with the greatest of respect the learned Contractor General does not have available to him in his office or on his staff, as far as I am aware, any lawyers with the prosecutorial skill sets and this is why like many other entities it would be safer — and I have said it to him before — refer the matters quietly and then we look at them objectively,” she said.

Noting that this is not the television shows Law and Order and CSI, Llewellyn said when such allegations are made the witness’s security and protection must be of concern in a country where intimidation is a major issue.

According to Llewellyn, she has since responded to the police commissioner to say she has found great merit in the concerns he raised in respect of the “premature and sensational publicity” given by Christie’s office “well before the critical evidence is secured by the police investigators”.

“When you have this done it provides a road map for alleged offenders or target of an investigation to cover their tracks or cause potential evidence upon which the police could base a reasonable suspicion to disappear or dissipate,” she said.

She added further that “it could unwittingly cause the injury to a potential witness on whose statement damning allegations are founded or it could put her under threat or cause her to disappear”.

All citizens, whether accused of administrative or criminal malfeasance, the DPP said, are entitled to due process and natural justice and the sensational publication of unproved allegations can offend their rights in real and damaging terms.

Additionally, she said all citizens are entitled to their good name unless the presumption of innocence has been rebutted after having been found guilty by a duly appointed judge or resident magistrate, operating within the context of the criminal statutes giving them the jurisdiction to decide issues of guilt and innocence.

Llewellyn said she has pledged to offer the OCG the continued co-operation of the office of the DPP.

Meanwhile, she said the OCG’s referrals to her office do not make up a half a per cent of the total work and files that pass through the office of the DPP.

The OCG investigations have included the Kern Spencer case which is now before the court; The Jamaica Urban Transit Company case which the DPP ruled that no one was criminally liable; the Gotel matter which was referred to the police, the London Heathrow and the Joseph Hibbert/Mabey & Johnson matter which have also been referred to the police, as well as the Caymanas Track matter that she said is still outstanding.

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COMMENTS (21)

Ann Smith
6/19/2011

"VooDoo" day. Whatever it is this kind of looting has to stop! Too many suffer when they are not able to find the money to do the things that they are mandated to do.

Mark Ranger
6/19/2011

Need not say anything, Eagle Eyes you said it all...

Eagle Eyes
6/19/2011

By the way. Has the family of this lady been engaged? This article is suggesting a lot of possibilities. Thank goodness we are not hearing the worst. So now MAKE HASTE relevant authorities. There is A TON AT STAKE. No need to be pointing fingers. There is already TOO MUCH OF THAT INSTEAD OF TACKLING THE PROBLEMS WE FACE. So good luck.

Nicolas Henry
6/19/2011

Mr Christe is fighting a F5 tornado, there's no hope of winning. JA is choked up with too many people that are classified as poor & are willing to "Eat a food" at any cost at the lower level. A country embedded with corruption for so many decades will take a century of Marshal law reverse. The bottom line is, there's no price to pay at the uppper level for wrong doing. Wrongs are just welcomed and understood at that level, it then trickle down to lower (Eat a food) level, the general populus.

Gene Knall
6/19/2011

Let us look at this mater objectively. OCG gets wind of fraud, does an investigation and has what it considers evidence to bring the alleged guilty to justice. The proper proceedure is for the OCG to turn the file over to the police and the ODPP for investigation and procsecution which can secure a conviction - thus serving the public good.
Instead, the OCG turns the file over to the media at just about the same time it sends it to the Police and the ODPP. How is justice served by this?

Stephen Fox
6/19/2011

Bottom line is that the Police and the DPP are not reliable partners for the OCG. Mr Christie and his teams need the legal power to take his cases directly to the courts. Mr Ellington and Ms Llewelyn have enough on their plates and should support any policy and constitutional changes needed to allow the OCG to execute its mandate fully. Any thing else is just sour grapes.

johnny gordon
6/19/2011

There has to be protocols in regard to the timing of releases to the press. Has anyone asked Mr Christie to explain why he would release the info to the press before the Police had it in their possession? Maybe he had a good reason, let's hear it.

Winston G
6/19/2011

"In a three-page response to the police commissioner Christie said the first of two correspondence to the police was hand-delivered less than three hours AFTER the media release and not 72 hours"
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
The was AFTER the release to the media.
I have always had a problem with the timing of Mr. Christie's releases, but he doesn't have to worry, the public just loves him. And it is getting to his head. He just loves the spotlight.

A Sil
6/19/2011

Shut up and do your jobs now that they are being pointed out to you. The fact is that before Mr. Christie you would have been clueless and the criminals would not even have been investigated let alone gone into hiding. Your form of Justice is always delayed until denied.

Jay Brown
6/19/2011

Greg is well aware of the many cover up's that takes place hence the reason for this method. I must however agree with the COP that given zeal with which they are pursuing case, this approach could compromise there case.

Eagle Eyes
6/19/2011

With due respect to Mr.Ellington & Ms.Llewelyn, it should now be CRYSTAL CLEAR that Mr.Christie's office should be furnished with all necessary factions to be able to execute an arrest. I wish & hope you both are matured enough to allow this. Surely, this will remove the HE SAYS SHE SAYS business as all Mr.Christie's investigations would be his prerogative to the point when you both would be summond on board. Already see Ms.Llewlyn is saying her plate is full. So why not? Mr.Christie will you?

Ramon Castro
6/19/2011

When the release was made I chided the OCG for releasing the info before turning over the matter to the police. The OCG is a vital arm in fighting corruption but what are the advantages of getting the info first to the public if it is going to jeopardize a case. There are instances where the OCG has been overzealous. The role of the OCG s/b, to unearth corruption -- if there is evidence, turn over the matter to the police and the DPP. A chain of command must be adhered to.

Paul Gentles
6/19/2011

We are still the benefactors of "divide and rule". Politicians and their lackeys have come to see the country's resources as their "birthright" and so anyone seen standing in their way should expect to be villified. This newspaper is merely facilitating the role we as children would conduct on the playground "hot patty,hot patty!" to initiate a fight for personal gratification ignoring the detriment to the goaded participants. We are adults now though some still have juvenile minds.

Clara Brooks
6/19/2011

Spill it out, witness or no witness, because in Jamaica when it comes to police and the DPP their track records of prosecution are sickeningly dismal. 'Spill it out' to the tune of Stitchy 'Bun it Out' Jamaica DPP is very partisan, everyone knows that, and of course the OCG is a learned team, they know the elementary lessons being said by the commissioner. Of course they are aware, also seriously the police are beyond redemption. Who can the OCG trust? Not this government, nor PNP. Media Yes.

Carlos Bryson
6/19/2011

I would have to ask, Was the medai asked to embargo the information by the OCG? These are real issues in the realm of corruption and possible criminal sanctions. I just cant believe the OCG would just expend all this effort to investigate and them willy nilly pass the info to the media by-passing due process; knowing how much forces want to see his office gone or castrated. Thanks DPP for the legal tutorial. Let's get some action on these outstanding cases. Respect to the OCG!!

Chuck Emanuel
6/19/2011

Total obfuscation and a shopping list of sound bite assertions masquerading as facts. Is it unusual for "Witnesses to disappear" after the police has been informed in Jamaica ? Could the police themselves had informed the witness ?. While we are finding excuses,
how is the Keith Clarke investigations coming along ?. Has anyone "disappeared as yet ?.
Lastly, how many years will it take for the DPP" to continue to fight Judges in Courts as opposed to clearing the back-logs of case loads ?

Authnel Reid
6/19/2011

. Too many of our public officials /and group (the DPP and the Police) resists change are happy with the status quo as long as it does not infringe on their turf.

Authnel Reid
6/19/2011

Instead of upbraiding Mr. Christie, Ellington and Llewellyn should demand that the “Gordon House Gang” enact statute that imposed heavy prison term on witnesses who abscond.This new occurring trend (“witness cannot be found”) must be nipped in the bud. Much more needs to be done than the DPP making public appeal for these witnesses to turn up.

steven davidson
6/19/2011

I have been saying this for years now. While the OCG is doing a what it must....The CG is a sensationalist and playing politics. He has become part of the problem and not the solution! He has routinely jumped the gun before investigations are completed before he collects all the facts. He has become a hindrance to the liquidation deal for the hotel in St.Elizabeth, the LNG deal making unfounded accusations, and now has hindered the same investigation he has uncovered. He really should resign!

wanda woeman
6/19/2011

I have tremendous respect for this CP who seems to be a man able to think on his feet and articulate his thoughts in impeccable English, which most of his senior men seem unable to do. Sometimes it is embarrassing watching them on TV. That aside I think his success has been fortuitous, based on the coincidence of his tenure with the demise of a criminal empire.
I like his strategies presented here, especially the CCTV and the improvement of the community aesthetics. Certainly people can’t feel good about themselves if their surroundings are rundown and dilapidated. We will see what the government does about them.

wanda woeman
6/19/2011

Could it be a matter of a trust deficit here? Is it that the Contractor General fears that if the Police and the office of the DPP are let into the matter in the early stages the cases will be compromised. It seems to me that the DPP is interested more in protecting people's good name rather than seeing them brought to justice.
Is it because only a certain set of cases are brought before the DPP which usually do not involve the everyday Jamaican?
And why two set of Laws? Tell us again.

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Ellington, Llewelyn scold Christie