KINGSTON, Jamaica — The People’s National Party (PNP) says the arrest and charge of former Petrojam chairman, Dr Perceval Bahado-Singh, on 12 counts of obtaining money by false pretence serves as an important deterrent to people inclined to corruption within the public sector. 

The allegations are that Dr Bahado-Singh fraudulently claimed several reimbursements and was paid US$73,620 by Petrojam for overseas business trips that he did not attend.

“The public should recall the scandalous corruption and waste of taxpayers funds exposed via a Comprehensive Audit of Petrojam Ltd by the Auditor General’s Department in 2018, and which was further amplified in the 2019 hearings on the Report by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament. 

“Notwithstanding the catalogue of waste and abuse identified in that report, this is the first case of criminal charges being laid in the sordid affair,” stated Opposition spokesman on national security, Senator Peter Bunting.

Bahado-Singh is to appear in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court Wednesday, March 17.