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The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has ruled that the police should investigate allegations of corruption involving former junior works minister Joseph Hibbert.
Mr Hibbert has admitted that when he was the technical director in the transport ministry he took money from the British Bridge building firm, Mabey and Johnson.
In a statement to the Office of the Contractor General, Mr Hibbert reportedly said, the money was reimbursement for out of pocket expenses and was not a bribe as was being alleged.
In her ruling today, DPP Paula Llewellyn said there was not sufficient evidence to support the claims that Mr Hibbert had accepted bribes to secure contracts for Mabey and Johnson.
But the DPP says there is evidence that Mr Hibbert did engage in corrupt practices.
Mr Hibbert is alleged to have committed the offences between 1998 and 2003 when he worked as the technical director in the works ministry.
He is alleged to have committed the breaches through Deryk A Gibson limited, which had a deal with Mabey and Johnson Ltd to do bridge building in Jamaica.
According to the contractor general, Mr Hibbert admitted taking money from Mabey and Johnson for travel expenses.
The DPP says there is sufficient compelling material to be referred to the Commissioner of Police and his assigned investigators to further probe Mr Hibbert’s actions.
She says the enquiry should be pursued for possible breaches committed between 2000 and 2003 under the Corruption Prevention Act.
The DPP says the contractor general referred the compelling material to her office.
The material was based primarily on documents and statements gathered by the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
The SFO has launched an investigation of contracts awarded to Mabey and Johnson by the Government of Jamaica from 1989 to 2003.
But Miss Llewellyn says without more, the material cannot be used as the basis of criminal prosecution in the Jamaican court.
She also says a report of the contractor general on the matter cannot be used either.
However, she says Jamaican Law Enforcement Authorities can use the materials as a guide in the lines of enquiry during their investigations.
In the meantime, the DPP says since Mr Hibbert is no longer the technical director in the transport ministry, the authorities at the ministry, the Public Service Commission and/or the Parliamentary and Political Directorate should determine what sanctions should apply to him.
After the corruption allegations emerged last year, Mr Hibbert stepped aside as the junior transport minister, but remained as the Member of Parliament for East Rural St Andrew.
http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=17817
Mr Hibbert has admitted that when he was the technical director in the transport ministry he took money from the British Bridge building firm, Mabey and Johnson.
In a statement to the Office of the Contractor General, Mr Hibbert reportedly said, the money was reimbursement for out of pocket expenses and was not a bribe as was being alleged.
In her ruling today, DPP Paula Llewellyn said there was not sufficient evidence to support the claims that Mr Hibbert had accepted bribes to secure contracts for Mabey and Johnson.
But the DPP says there is evidence that Mr Hibbert did engage in corrupt practices.
Mr Hibbert is alleged to have committed the offences between 1998 and 2003 when he worked as the technical director in the works ministry.
He is alleged to have committed the breaches through Deryk A Gibson limited, which had a deal with Mabey and Johnson Ltd to do bridge building in Jamaica.
According to the contractor general, Mr Hibbert admitted taking money from Mabey and Johnson for travel expenses.
The DPP says there is sufficient compelling material to be referred to the Commissioner of Police and his assigned investigators to further probe Mr Hibbert’s actions.
She says the enquiry should be pursued for possible breaches committed between 2000 and 2003 under the Corruption Prevention Act.
The DPP says the contractor general referred the compelling material to her office.
The material was based primarily on documents and statements gathered by the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
The SFO has launched an investigation of contracts awarded to Mabey and Johnson by the Government of Jamaica from 1989 to 2003.
But Miss Llewellyn says without more, the material cannot be used as the basis of criminal prosecution in the Jamaican court.
She also says a report of the contractor general on the matter cannot be used either.
However, she says Jamaican Law Enforcement Authorities can use the materials as a guide in the lines of enquiry during their investigations.
In the meantime, the DPP says since Mr Hibbert is no longer the technical director in the transport ministry, the authorities at the ministry, the Public Service Commission and/or the Parliamentary and Political Directorate should determine what sanctions should apply to him.
After the corruption allegations emerged last year, Mr Hibbert stepped aside as the junior transport minister, but remained as the Member of Parliament for East Rural St Andrew.
http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=17817