A National Insurance Scheme (NIS) administrator at the Westmoreland parish office of the Labour and Social Security Ministry is to be charged with breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act, the Integrity Commission (IC) has ruled.

The ruling is contained in the agency’s latest investigation report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday which states that the administrator, Claude McIntosh, had a self-employed individual pay over outstanding NIS contributions to his personal bank account amounting to $350,000.

The IC said investigation into the matter began on March 15, 2023 following allegations of corruption in the recovery of outstanding NIS contributions.

The commission’s Director of Corruption Prosecution Keisha Prince-Kameka, pursuant to the provisions of the Integrity Commission Act, reviewed the investigation report and ruled that “Upon careful consideration, it was determined that Mr Claude McIntosh should be charged for breach of Section 14 (1)(b) of the Corruption Prevention Act.”

According to the report, during the course of the investigation, the IC’s director of investigation (DI) Kevon Stephenson uncovered an apparent act of corruption involving McIntosh, in relation to the recovery of outstanding NIS contributions.

It was alleged that in December 2022, the complainant received a telephone call from a man who identified himself as Claude McIntosh and stated that he was associated with the NIS. McIntosh, the IC said, advised the complainant that he owed over $500,000.00 in NIS payments, and he needed to make the payment urgently, otherwise there would be problems.

The IC said McIntosh provided a bank account number for the payment to be made and informed the complainant that if he were to pay the monies to the bank account he would give him a discount of $150,000.00.

“The complainant enquired about being issued a receipt for the payment and Mr McIntosh advised him that it will take at least two weeks to obtain receipts in Jamaica. The complainant further advised that he was contacted on numerous occasions by Mr McIntosh, by way of e-mail, telephone calls, and WhatsApp,” the report said.

Stephenson concluded that the individual who contacted the complainant, purporting to be in the employ of the NIS, in respect of outstanding NIS contributions, was McIntosh, who, up to the date of the report, holds the position of NIS administrator at the Westmoreland Parish Office of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

The report said: “The DI concludes that the complainant has outstanding NIS contributions for himself, as a self-employed individual, in the sum of $571,083.98, and for the business entity Dream Team Divers, in excess of $29,019.80, as at June 24, 2024.”

“The DI concludes that Mr Claude McIntosh acted in contravention of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s National Insurance Scheme Compliance Operations Procedure Manual in respect of his efforts to collect the complainant’s outstanding NIS contributions,” the report stated.

The DI said his conclusion is premised on McIntosh’s provision of his personal banking information to the complainant for the remitting of outstanding NIS contributions with the purpose of obtaining an illicit benefit; and McIntosh’s failure to adhere to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s National Insurance Scheme Compliance Operations Procedure Manual, in respect of the permissible steps to be taken when collecting outstanding contributions from non-compliant contributors/employers.

In his recommendations to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the DI suggested the implementation of fraud-proof NIS systems and processes to prevent acts of corruption and other irregularities within the NIS. The DI also recommended that applicable internal disciplinary actions to be taken against McIntosh by the ministry.

The DI, meanwhile, appealed to anyone who has paid monies to, or who has been approached by McIntosh in relation to their NIS contributions, to contact his office.

— Alecia Smith