KINGSTON, Jamaica— Only about three per cent of the cases that are investigated by the Integrity Commission (IC) are referred to external entities such as the Financial Investigations Division (FID) and Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) for further action.

That’s according to the IC’s Director of Investigations, Kevon Stephenson.

He made the disclosure on Tuesday during an appearance before the Parliament’s Integrity Commission Oversight Committee (ICOC). He was responding to questions from committee member, the Member of Parliament for St Andrew South Eastern, Julian Robinson.

Stephenson said that over a five-year period, just over three per cent of investigation reports were referred to other agencies.

He explained that in referring cases, “we have to be mindful of the remit of the commission”. He said that although there are other entities with similar or complementary powers “we have to be careful not to divest the functions that we are to perform, particularly when you look at the independence of the commission in the treatment of matters having to do with public officials and whether other entities enjoy the same independence”.

Stephenson explained that with the investigation reports, there are usually requests for information from other competent authorities such as TAJ and FID.

“There are also opportunities for joint investigations,” he said, divulging that the IC is currently participating in a couple of those probes.

The matter of referrals loomed large in September when the IC, in its near 200-page investigation report into the financial affairs of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, recommended that the report be sent to the FID and the TAJ with a view to having those entities examine the prime minister’s business dealings.