MEMBER of Parliament for St Andrew East Central Dennis Gordon has rejected calls for his resignation and scoffed at claims that he scammed the State out of millions of dollars when his company, JACDEN Limited, benefited from the University Hospital of the West Indies’ (UHWI’s) tax-exempt status.

In his first full media interview since the matter was raised in a report from the Auditor General’s Department (AGD) in January, Gordon told the Jamaica Observer that the calls for his resignation are being done for political reasons as there was no finding of corruption or criminality by his company or himself.

“Let me put everything in context and perspective, those who are calling for my resignation, they have no moral authority to do so. If we’re going to talk about resignation, let’s go across the board, but I’m not here to defend the stewardship of anyone else, I am here to defend the stewardship of myself.

“This is character assassination… It is modern-day lynching by persons with their own political agenda,” said Gordon.

“If the auditor general had fined me, had indicted me for anything, I would have been the first to resign, because I did not go to politics for a pay cheque, I entered politics for service,” declared Gordon.

According to the AGD report tabled in Parliament, the UHWI misused its tax-exempt status to import goods for four private companies, which it identified as companies 1, 2, 3, and 4, resulting in losses totalling $23.1 million.

“Customs records showed that items such as office furniture, laundry and medical equipment were declared as hospital imports, but inventory records confirmed these were not acquired by the hospital and were instead obtained by private entities,” the audit report stated.

“This misrepresentation breached the Customs Act, resulting in over $20 million in unpaid import duties,” the AGD said, pointing out that false declaration on Customs documents are subject to fines or prosecution.

The UHWI has since named the four companies as Supreme Laundry Services, Willman Sales, Scientific Medical Services, and JACDEN Limited.

Gordon, who heads JACDEN, admitted that the UHWI cleared a shipment of dialysis machines for his company, but was adamant that this was not an attempt to avoid the Customs duties, which the company has since paid.

“My company entered into an arrangement with an entity which approved the use of its facilitation, which is convention, [and] this has been going on for more than 20 years. Having realised that a mistake was made, I could only do the honourable thing by correcting that mistake,” said Gordon.

“I was not directly involved, but that does not mean I don’t have to take responsibility for my company’s actions, because I own the company. So, what was [the] cry — that the taxpayers would have shorted out of $10.1 million, and so I said to Customs, ‘Give me an assessment of what it would have cost so I can pay.’

“They reached out to me and said I should pay approximately $10.1 million, which I paid. So, what is the crime? My only crime is my success and that I am a PNP [People’s National Party] Member of Parliament,” Gordon added.

He told the Sunday Observer that it has been incorrectly reported that the UHWI imported the dialysis machines for JACDEN.

According to Gordon, the machines had already arrived in the island when the company was then informed that it needed an import permit from the Ministry of Health which could not be processed in the time that was available to JACDEN.

“The company which supplied the equipment also sent the biomedical engineers who got 10 days in the country. When it was revealed that the machines could not be cleared because they required a permit to clear them, everybody got confused. And so the people who manage my affairs — because I don’t manage the day-to-day affairs of the company — they reached out to the UHWI,” said Gordon, as he argued that it has been the convention for the UHWI to assist its partners in circumstances such as this.

“And I am not the only one and I don’t know that I will be the last. So everybody is talking about JACDEN, but nobody seems to care about the other three entities. I have not profited; I have given back. Do you know that I also have given medical equipment to UHWI, donated things to UHWI that they did not have. We donated patient monitors, foetal monitors, diabetic ulcer monitors, and nobody said anything because that is not the narrative they want to portray,” added Gordon

According to Gordon, JACDEN could have applied to the health ministry for a waiver of the Custom duties and more than likely this would have been granted.

He said, over the years, JACDEN has imported medical devices valued at several millions of dollars and has paid the full Customs duties without seeking any special treatment.

“And it pains deep down when people are trying to mar the reputation of my organisation, trying to use me as a distraction for other things that are going on, and the thing that bothers me most is the impact it is having on my mother. Listen, you can do Dennis Gordon anything, but just don’t kill my mother. She is 96, allow her to live her life comfortably rather than putting her in this stressful position and situation; that is what bothers me most, not about the persons who are trying to assassinate my character,” declared Gordon.

The JACDEN head pointed out that the imported dialysis machines are being used to offer treatment at $10,000, which is about half of the regular market price.

“In some instances, treatment is done for $16,000, $17,000 and, in some, up to $26,000 in the west by other private entities, and…nothing can cause me to charge the poor people more. It was designed [that way] from the day I went off to Cuba in search of affordable medical care for the most vulnerable in my society.

“We have never turned back anyone who comes here with $7,000 or $8,000 or, in some cases, have no money at all,” declared Gordon.

He underscored that JACDEN treats people who are referred to it from the public health sector, which is critically short of dialysis machines.

Gordon added that JACDEN has imported two ambulances, which it paid the full duties on, and these have not been able to be placed into service.

“For three months they are sitting at my office, can’t go on the road to help poor people because the person who is supposed to come and do the inspection has not showed up yet. These are ambulances that were purchased to go into the community with my medical team to see persons who are shut-in and who would not be able to go to a health centre or a hospital who need medical care, but nobody sees that,” declared Gordon as he underscored that JACDEN did not seek any special favour to avoid paying the Customs fees.

“I go through the proper channels because I understand that I am swimming in shark-infested waters, so I’m not going to give blood to them,” added Gordon.

Efforts by the Sunday Observer to contact the principals of the other three companies who the auditor general said benefited from the UHWI tax-exempt status have so far been unsuccessful.

The entrance to the University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew

JACDEN has provided the University Hospital of the West Indies with proof of payment of Customs duties.

The Dennis Gordon Building at 18 ½ Lyndhurst Road in St Andrew, which houses JACDEN Group of Companies. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)