KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Integrity Commission said it has referred several public officials to the commission’s director of corruption prosecution for criminal prosecution after they failed to file their Statutory Declarations for 2018 and 2019.

This, it said follows 30 day Statutory Notices which were previously served on several public officials who were outstanding with the filing of their Statutory Declarations for 2018 and 2019.

The commission noted that section 39 (1) of the Integrity Commission Act (ICA) provides that “… every person who, on or after the appointed day, is a parliamentarian or public official, shall submit to the (commission’s) Director of Information and Complaints, a Statutory Declaration of his assets and liabilities and his income in the form set out in the Third Schedule”.

It said Chairman Justice Seymour Panton (Ret’d), in the commission’s 2019/2020 Annual Report, had warned “all public officials … to comply, as a failure to comply will result in prosecution”.

The commission said the Director of Corruption Prosecution has approved the offer of a Discharge of Liability for delinquent declarants, by the payment of a lesser fine of $250,000 and the submission of the outstanding Statutory Declaration. It noted, however, that “delinquent declarants” who fail to pay the $250,000 fine and submit the Declaration within the specified time, will become liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding $500,000, or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months.

Meanwhile, the commission is urging all public officials to ensure that they file their 2020 Statutory Declarations, within their respective organizations, no later than March 31, 2021. It added that all outstanding Statutory Declarations for 2018 and 2019 should also be filed forthwith to avoid prosecution.

“There will be no exceptions,” said the commission’s Executive Director, Greg Christie. “Laws are promulgated by the Parliament to be complied with and enforced, not to be arbitrarily ignored, disregarded or set aside.”