Former Education Minister Ruel Reid, after

months of living under the radar, was thrust back into the public eye on Wednesday,

October 9 as his family home in St. Andrew was raided by members of the Jamaica

Constabulary Force (JCF).

Reid, his wife Sharen (nee Thomas), as well as President of the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) Fritz Pinnock are among the latest dominoes falling amid intensifying probes into allegations of corruption, nepotism, and misappropriation of funds within the Ministry of Education earlier this year, while still under his leadership.

The disgraced former senator will be spending

the night in jail, as criminal charges were officially laid against him, his wife

and Professor Pinnock today.

But how did we get here?

BUZZ presents a timeline of major events, from the shocking revelations in Parliament, leading up to Reid’s fall from his seat of power:

March

The fireworks were set off by Opposition

Leader Dr. Peter Phillips on Monday, March 18, when he called for Auditor

General Pamela Monroe Ellis to immediately investigate allegations of misuse of

public funds by the Ministry of Education and CMU.

“The Opposition is aware and had been

receiving information that politically connected persons have been employed as

advisors, but who have not been operational or doing any work and collecting

hefty salaries, which is a clear case of misuse of public funds,” Phillips said

at the time in a statement.

The rumour mill was set alight as speculations rose around who exactly was caught the latest in a series of corruption scandals plaguing the Jamaica Labour Party-led (JLP) administration since the disastrous Petrojam saga in 2018 (which is far from resolved).

Two days later, on Wednesday, March 20, a release

from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) told the nation that Prime Minister

Andrew Holness had spoken with Reid, demanded and received his resignation.

Reid, effectively fired from his post, also handed in his immediate resignation from the Senate to Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen – accepted post-haste.

July

The Public Administration and

Appropriations Committee (PAAC) raised further questions on the operations of

the CMU on Wednesday, July 3.

After a meeting with officials of the education ministry and Professor Pinnock, it was revealed that a second household helper of the former minister was contracted to the institution to provide services, while still being paid by the ministry.

On Friday, July 5, CMU announced that Professor

Pinnock had taken a voluntary, six-week leave of absence from his position as

head of the institution amid the investigations.

Pinnock said his leave of absence would

ensure “transparency and retain the integrity of the university”.

Commissioner of Police Major General Antony

Anderson confirmed that the embattled Reid, among others, is the subject of a

criminal investigation on Friday, July 10.

Anderson, who was giving his first press

briefing since becoming head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), declined

to go into detail with regards to the scope and nature of the probe.

He indicated, however, that several police departments, including Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Division (C-TOC) and the Constabulary Financial Unit, were being tasked with unearthing the breaches and possible charges.

The Financial Investigation Division (FID)

of the Ministry of Finance is also part of the probe, he added.

The summer heat was high, and the noose

tightened ever so slowly around Reid, the ministry he once led (now handed to

Karl Samuda) and the CMU.

September-October

Two months later, on Friday, September 13, Pinnock requested a further extension of his leave of absence from the institution.

Less than a month later, on Wednesday, October 9, members of FID and C-TOC raided Reid’s home, as well as the house of Pinnock and two others implicated simultaneously, arresting the suspects.

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Ruel Reid, wife and CMU president detained in corruption probe [/naviga:li][/naviga:ul]

Several items were seized including

documents and electronic devices.