Patrick Wong guilty, fined

Thursday, November 24, 2011

FORMER National Works Agency (NWA) boss Patrick Wong has been fined over two offences committed under the Contractor General Act.

He was ordered to pay a fine of $5,000 or spend 30 days in prison on each count when he appeared in the Corporate Area Criminal Court this morning.

The decision, which was handed down by Senior Magistrate Judith Pusey, was welcomed by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG).

The magistrate ruled that a failure on the part of Wong to comply with a lawful requisition of a contractor general, without lawful justification or excuse, was a “strict liability” offence under Section 29 (b) (ii) of the Contractor General Act.

The sanction that is prescribed under the Act is a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both.

The prosecution of Wong was undertaken by Acting Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Dirk Harrison.

Wong was defended by attorney Harold Brady.

“The ruling of the senior magistrate is regarded by the OCG as a very important judicial landmark precedent and development as the OCG seeks to diligently discharge its mandates under the Contractor General Act to ensure that Government contracts are awarded impartially and on merit and in circumstances that do not involve impropriety or irregularity,” the OCG said in a news release.

The OCG said in the past it has wrestled with Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn, to proceed with prosecutions under Section 29 of Act.

The OCG said regarding Wong, the DPP, in a written communication to the OCG, dated November 4, 2011, had also expressed her reservations about proceeding with the prosecution. “Additionally, the DPP had intimated that the OCG should either revert to the clerk of courts to have the matter prosecuted or retain private counsel of the OCG’s choice to prosecute the matter,” the OCG said.

“The OCG publicly commends Mr. Harrison for his willingness to proceed with the prosecution of this very important and landmark matter, and for his success in securing the convictions that the OCG had always believed were warranted given the circumstances of the case,” the OCG said.

“The OCG also wishes to caution public officials and private citizens, regarding the implications of the senior magistrate’s rulings, to ensure that requisitions of the OCG are diligently and fully complied with.”