A months-long probe by the Jamaica Observer has uncovered that at least three politicians linked to the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and five linked to the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) have been referred to the director of investigation at the Integrity Commission (IC) following allegations of corruption/illicit enrichment.

In almost all of the cases the allegations have been made to the IC by people who claim to have information surrounding acts of corruption/illicit enrichment, but there is no documentation to support these allegations, based on the Observer probe.

In its 2023/2024 annual report released in July, the IC reported that two more parliamentarians had been referred for investigation based on allegations of illicit enrichment.

This was in addition to six Members of Parliament who were referred in the previous reporting year (2022-2023).

PNP President Mark Golding has repeatedly stated that no person on the Opposition benches is among the eight, but the Observer’s probe revealed that two ranking members of the PNP have been accused of laundering corruptly obtained gains and failing to report their total assets to the IC.

In one of the allegations a high-ranking PNP politician is accused of using international banking accounts to hide millions of dollars in assets not included in his annual declarations of income, assets and liabilities to the IC.

Observer checks have also revealed that a senior municipal corporation official, who is linked to the PNP, has also been reported to the IC’s director of investigation based on an allegation of illicit enrichment.

He reportedly under-reported his assets to the IC by not including money gained through a controversial trucking programme.

According to the allegation, the municipal corporation official is in breach of the Corruption Prevention Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

There is also a claim that the local government official misappropriated funds sent to the corporation by the Ministry of Local Government for repairs to a State-owned facility.

Similar allegations have been made about the three politicians linked to the JLP with one claim of undeclared assets totalling millions of dollars being hidden in international financial institutions.

JLP Leader Prime Minister Andrew Holness has said that he is not aware of any of the party’s parliamentarians being investigated for illicit enrichment by the IC and that his consultations elicited a negative response.

“I have asked as far and as wide and I haven’t got that response from everyone, but as far as I have been told, no,” Holness told journalists as he toured the Clarendon Northern constituency in August 2023.

Since then there has been a wall of silence from the JLP camp on the allegations of illicit enrichment.

The IC has not said if it has told the eight people that they are being investigated and no attempt was made by the Observer to seek an update from the commission, which cannot release any information until the matter is tabled in Parliament.

“The law restricts the commission from making any report or public statement in relation to the initiation or conduct of an investigation by the director of investigation prior to the tabling of a report in Parliament. In so far as statutory declarations, government contracts, and prescribed licences are concerned, the law states that every person having an official duty under the Act shall regard such matters as secret and confidential. Penalties of fines and imprisonment are prescribed for any breach,” chairman of the IC retired Justice Seymour Panton reiterated in the 2023/24 annual report.

He underscored that the IC Act provides that any person may orally, or in writing, make a complaint, give information, or notify the commission about a matter which involves, or may involve, an act of corruption or non-compliance with the Act.

Panton noted that when a person approaches the commission in this way, the director of information and complaints is compelled to record the information and submit it to the appropriate director of the commission for action.

“The commission has no control over the complaints and allegations it receives. It must, however, investigate them and make a note of the fact of the receipt and the investigation in the annual report. That is what the legislation passed by Parliament requires.

“The police receive numerous complaints and allegations of various crimes that, when investigated, are found to be without merit. So does the Integrity Commission which has no control over speculations, rumours or mischief-making in the society,” added Panton.

But the Observer investigation has indicated that some of the current allegations, particularly those against the municipal corporation official, could rise to the level of other State agencies, including Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) and Financial Investigations Division (FID), being asked to join the probe.

Last Thursday, the Integrity Commission issued a news release saying that it has submitted to Parliament, for tabling, a report of investigation, and an associated indicative ruling and full ruling of its director of corruption prosecution.

Additionally, the IC said that “a special report under Section 36(3) of the Integrity Commission Act, that is associated with the investigation report, has also been submitted to the Parliament for tabling”.

On Monday, the commission further advised that it has submitted two additional investigation reports to Parliament for tabling, as well as a six-page third party witness statement that is germane to the investigation report that was submitted to the Parliament on September 5, 2024.

The reports are expected to be tabled when Parliament resumes from its summer recess.