The Labour ministry Friday said it would review the work permit granted to the Colombian footballer, Ruben Hernandez, following suspicions about how he came into possession of $10.5 million in United States and local currency allegedly found by police at his Montego Bay home on March 8.

At the same time, investigators from the Financial Investigation Division (FID) are to begin sifting through documents related to the operations of the Montego Bay-based football club, following Hernandez’s arrest on a charge of unlawful possession of property.

Carlton Wilson, the senior superintendent in charge of the Police Narcotics Division, confirmed yesterday that the FID would be looking into the club’s books, but could not provide the newspaper with further details.

Contacted by the Sunday Observer, Gene Grey, president of Wadadah, said his club welcomed the investigation as there was nothing to hide.

“They are welcome to come and investigate and they will see the amount of money that Wadadah owes. The players hardly get pay. We owe Western Sports, Community Sports, Locker Room Sports, the bus driver, doctor bills, grocery shops and much more,” Grey read out a list of creditors.

He added: “Personally, me owe phone bill, light bill…. just to try and run the club.”

The Wadadah club boss, who insisted that his organisation had operated in a transparent manner, stressed that he was currently overwhelmed with unpaid debts, arguing that the parlous financial state of affairs would provide ample proof of their non-involvement in any form of illicit activities.

Alvin McIntosh, permanent secretary in the labour ministry, indicated that Hernandez’s work permit would be reviewed in light of questions about the large sum of money in his possession. But he also cleared up suspicions that the permit might have been questionably acquired, saying it was issued after the necessary processing and due diligence were done by the ministry.

Hernandez, who is scheduled to return to court on March 21, was last Tuesday offered $500,000 bail when he appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court to answer the charge of unlawful possession of property.

Police said he could not give a reasonable explanation of how he came to have the almost $10.5 million with which he was allegedly found.

The court heard that Hernandez was being arrested on the same charge for the second time in nine months after he was acquitted in the same court last June. On that occasion, he was allegedly held with US$335,000.

Arresting officers said that the money he was allegedly held with this time was the same amount he had last year.

The court was told that the police, armed with two search warrants issued under the Dangerous Drugs Act and Unlawful Possession Act, went to his home at around 1:15 pm and conducted a search in his presence.

The police said they found three bags in a closet that contained US$89,000 and J$4.7 million. According to the police, when asked how he came by the money, Hernandez allegedly told them it was the same money he was arrested for last year. He is also alleged to have said the Jamaican currency he had was those he had asked a friend to change for him from the United States currency he had.

When asked by Senior Resident Magistrate Winsome Henry why the accused man kept the amount of money “under his mattress”, attorney-at-law Trevor HoLyn, who is representing Hernandez, said his client did not trust banks.

Hernandez was offered bail with the condition that he surrender his travel documents. A stop order was placed on him at both international airports and he was asked to report to the Freeport Police Station.

Confusion arose about Hernandez’s legitimacy and that of his work permit when an official of the Wadadah Football Club in Montego Bay, St James, to which the Colombian was contracted in August 2003 to play professional football, said in a press report that he did not know of Hernandez.

However, McIntosh told the Sunday Observer that Hernandez’s work permit application was approved following an application from the Wadadah Football Club, supported by the St James Football Association, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), and the issue of a transfer certificate by the Colombian Football Federation.

“Based on the information received, we could not reasonably deny him the work permit,” McIntosh said. He added that Wadadah also submitted a copy of the footballer’s contract to the ministry, which, among other things, indicated the salary to be paid and his place of residence.

McIntosh said the club’s manager informed the ministry Friday that Hernandez was still contracted to the club and that the official who gave information to the press Thursday denying knowledge of the footballer, had been away for a time.

McIntosh said that in light of the charge against the Colombian, his work permit would be reviewed.

The Sunday Observer obtained copies of the letter of application from Wadadah, seeking a work permit for Hernandez, and also copies of correspondence sent by the St James FA, JFF, and the transfer certificate submitted by the Colombians, as well as a copy of the police record granted to Hernandez, submitted with the application for renewal of the work permit after its expiry date a year after.

“.He will be contracted for a period of five years, beginning August 2003. His salary will be paid through our international chapter, which will be paying all players contracted from outside Jamaica,” said Wadadah’s letter to the ministry, supporting the work permit application for Hernandez.

The St James FA, at the same time, said it was happy to support the granting of a work permit for Hernandez. The association said when Wadadah asked that it make the recommendation on behalf of Hernandez, it did not hesitate to do so.

“.Because having a professional player among our midst will not only create opportunities for our players, but will enhance their game,” the St James FA said.

Hoping to head off criticisms of the work permit process, McIntosh said in an interview with the Sunday Observer that the system used by the labour ministry to process work permits conformed to the standards of the International Labour Organisation and was difficult to be beaten.

He said that in addition to the submission of the application and supporting documents, an inter-ministerial committee consisting of representatives of the ministries of national security, education, tourism, health, agriculture, land and the environment, industry and commerce, transport and works, as well as the Mines and Geology Department, met regularly to consider all applications.

“All jobs for which work permits are being sought (for foreigners) also have to be advertised in a local newspaper and we have to be satisfied that there are no (local) takers,” said McIntosh. The labour ministry, he added, uses its electronic labour exchange system to verify if there had been applications for the jobs advertised.

He said, too, that the ministry’s investigators carried out the necessary due diligence before applications were approved.

“It is an open and transparent system and anyone can walk in and test it,” McIntosh insisted.

Work permits attract a $40,000 annual fee and a one-time processing fee of $1,000, but McIntosh made it clear that revenue collection has never been the purpose for granting them, but rather to facilitate investment and to allow free movement of labour.

Reporters Paul Reid and Horace Hines contributed to this story.