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Rodney Chin says Spencer asked him to conceal ownership of firm at centre of light bulb scandal
BY Paul Henry Observer staff reporter henryp@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Rodney Chin, a former accused in the Cuban light bulb scandal turned State witness, is contending that he was only a front man for the Universal Management Company (UMC) and that former junior energy minister Kern Spencer was the real owner of the firm, which was contracted in 2006 to distribute free energy-saving bulbs that wound up costing the country over $100 million.
SPENCER ... arrested in February last year
According to Chin, Spencer on more than one occasion told him not to tell the then finance minister, Dr Omar Davies, that he (Spencer) was involved in establishing or running the company.
The revelation was made in the Judicial Review Court yesterday during Spencer's application for an order compelling the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to make full disclosure of how Chin's status changed from that of an accused to a witness for the Crown.
Chin was not in court yesterday, but the statement he gave the police in November last year was quoted at length by Spencer's lead attorney, Patrick Atkinson, who noted that if what Chin told the police was true, if he kept signing to bank accounts, knowing what the purpose was, he would be found to be a conspirator, aiding and abetting, among other things.
With each accusation read by Atkinson, Spencer either sighed, shook his head or chuckled in apparent disbelief.
In the statement, Chin said that he had signed to the documents forming the company to help Spencer and Coleen Wright - Spencer's former executive assistant and supervisor at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica who is also charged in the scandal - and that he did not benefit from the firm.
Chin said he was approached by Spencer to form a total of four companies - including UMC - and that Wright brought him (Chin) documents for the formation of the entities to which he affixed his signature without reading the papers.
The purpose of the companies was to take advantage of some business opportunities, the court heard.
Chin said that at that time he was not aware of the Cuban light bulb project and that he only gained knowledge of it in October 2007.
Chin said that some time after the company was formed Spencer contacted him to say that Davies would be contacting him (Chin) about the light bulb scandal and that he was to tell Davies that UMC was his (Chin's) firm and that it was dealing with the project.
The then energy minister Phillip Paulwell, Chin said, later called him and asked him to hold for Davies.
Davies, Chin said, asked him if his company was dealing with the light bulb project, to which he replied, "I think so," after which Davies invited him to a meeting.
After that, Chin said he received a "strange" call
about which he had to speak with a senior superintendent of police.
Spencer, according to Chin, called him later that day requesting a meeting, which was held in Spencer's vehicle in Trafalgar Park, Kingston.
"I asked him [Spencer] what was it about the project and why he told me to tell Dr Davies I was the person handling the distribution. He [Spencer] told me that it was politics being blown out of proportion," Chin said.
Chin said that before the meeting ended, Spencer made it clear to him that he should at no time tell Davies that he (Spencer) was involved in the establishment and running of the company.
After quoting from the statement, Atkinson told the court that Chin's motive for giving such a statement was to save himself from prison and to safeguard future government contracts.
Spencer, Chin and Wright were arrested in February last year following a probe into the distribution of the four million bulbs, a gift from the Cuban Government. The charges against Chin were dropped in January this year.
The prosecution is contending that Spencer had breached the Government Procurement guideline in awarding UMC the contract without putting it up to tender.
In responding to Spencer's application for disclosure yesterday, deputy solicitor general Lackston Robinson said the claimant was on a "fishing expedition" as Spencer had no information that the prosecution made any deal with Chin for his testimony. He said the prosecution cannot disclose material it does not have in its possession and that the magistrate's court, where Spencer's case is set for trial on June 22, was the proper forum for such an application, not the Judicial Review Court.
The matter continues today.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...ELL_OMAR__.asp
BY Paul Henry Observer staff reporter henryp@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Rodney Chin, a former accused in the Cuban light bulb scandal turned State witness, is contending that he was only a front man for the Universal Management Company (UMC) and that former junior energy minister Kern Spencer was the real owner of the firm, which was contracted in 2006 to distribute free energy-saving bulbs that wound up costing the country over $100 million.
SPENCER ... arrested in February last year
According to Chin, Spencer on more than one occasion told him not to tell the then finance minister, Dr Omar Davies, that he (Spencer) was involved in establishing or running the company.
The revelation was made in the Judicial Review Court yesterday during Spencer's application for an order compelling the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to make full disclosure of how Chin's status changed from that of an accused to a witness for the Crown.
Chin was not in court yesterday, but the statement he gave the police in November last year was quoted at length by Spencer's lead attorney, Patrick Atkinson, who noted that if what Chin told the police was true, if he kept signing to bank accounts, knowing what the purpose was, he would be found to be a conspirator, aiding and abetting, among other things.
With each accusation read by Atkinson, Spencer either sighed, shook his head or chuckled in apparent disbelief.
In the statement, Chin said that he had signed to the documents forming the company to help Spencer and Coleen Wright - Spencer's former executive assistant and supervisor at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica who is also charged in the scandal - and that he did not benefit from the firm.
Chin said he was approached by Spencer to form a total of four companies - including UMC - and that Wright brought him (Chin) documents for the formation of the entities to which he affixed his signature without reading the papers.
The purpose of the companies was to take advantage of some business opportunities, the court heard.
Chin said that at that time he was not aware of the Cuban light bulb project and that he only gained knowledge of it in October 2007.
Chin said that some time after the company was formed Spencer contacted him to say that Davies would be contacting him (Chin) about the light bulb scandal and that he was to tell Davies that UMC was his (Chin's) firm and that it was dealing with the project.
The then energy minister Phillip Paulwell, Chin said, later called him and asked him to hold for Davies.
Davies, Chin said, asked him if his company was dealing with the light bulb project, to which he replied, "I think so," after which Davies invited him to a meeting.
After that, Chin said he received a "strange" call
about which he had to speak with a senior superintendent of police.
Spencer, according to Chin, called him later that day requesting a meeting, which was held in Spencer's vehicle in Trafalgar Park, Kingston.
"I asked him [Spencer] what was it about the project and why he told me to tell Dr Davies I was the person handling the distribution. He [Spencer] told me that it was politics being blown out of proportion," Chin said.
Chin said that before the meeting ended, Spencer made it clear to him that he should at no time tell Davies that he (Spencer) was involved in the establishment and running of the company.
After quoting from the statement, Atkinson told the court that Chin's motive for giving such a statement was to save himself from prison and to safeguard future government contracts.
Spencer, Chin and Wright were arrested in February last year following a probe into the distribution of the four million bulbs, a gift from the Cuban Government. The charges against Chin were dropped in January this year.
The prosecution is contending that Spencer had breached the Government Procurement guideline in awarding UMC the contract without putting it up to tender.
In responding to Spencer's application for disclosure yesterday, deputy solicitor general Lackston Robinson said the claimant was on a "fishing expedition" as Spencer had no information that the prosecution made any deal with Chin for his testimony. He said the prosecution cannot disclose material it does not have in its possession and that the magistrate's court, where Spencer's case is set for trial on June 22, was the proper forum for such an application, not the Judicial Review Court.
The matter continues today.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...ELL_OMAR__.asp
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