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Former Acting President of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), Bindley Sangster and the Board of the state-owned bus company, were cleared on Monday by the Director of Public Prosecutions of any wrongdoing in the awarding of contracts at the company.
The ruling was handed down on Monday, two years after the Contractor General accused the JUTC management of rampant corruption, and recommended that criminal charges be brought against persons within the organisation.
No charge
Former members of the JUTC management and Board received welcoming news from the Director of Public Prosecutions that no charges will be laid against them.
Contractor General Greg Christie drew the ire of some members of the company, when he cited Acting President of the JUTC, Bindley Sangster for making false statements in his 2008 report.
Mr. Christie claimed then that his office had uncovered a trail of massive procurement breaches and alleged criminal conduct in the award of several contracts at the state-run company and that the violations were committed under the leadership of late chairman, Douglas Chambers.
But in her ruling Monday, DPP Paula Llewellyn said the police conducted a detail investigation into the allegations and found nothing to back up the claim of the Contractor General.
No evidence
According to the DPP, in the case of Mr. Sangster, there is no evidence that he made a false statement to the OCG.
She argued that while there may have been procedural breaches under Mr. Bindley's watch, the breaches did not rise to the level to bring criminal charges.
The Director also cleared the Board of the JUTC.
According to her, it is clear that the late JUTC Chairman, Douglas Chambers, approved contracts without the blessing of the Board of Directors.
The DPP remarked that the evidence gathered showed that Mr. Chambers ran the JUTC in a high handed fashion and acted without direction from the Board.
She said his decision to award a contract to Simber Productions Limited, headed by Susan Simes, was a clear procedural breach, which however, would still not have risen to the threshold required for criminal charges without more evidence.
She said with the death of Mr. Chambers, the cops were not able to dig deeper to determine whether his actions rose above departmental breaches.
Simes cleared
The DPP also cleared Ms Simes, of the popular Susan Show, of any criminal liability in her dealings with the JUTC.
In her conclusion, the Director said there has been no material uncovered by the police to support the laying of criminal charges against anyone in the matter.
She added that there was no material to suggest that there was any conspiracy on the part of persons within the JUTC to commit any criminal act.
She said the probe conducted by the police did not uncover any material to suggest that any of the persons interviewed obtained illicit benefits from any of the procedural breaches which have been identified.
Former Acting President of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), Bindley Sangster and the Board of the state-owned bus company, were cleared on Monday by the Director of Public Prosecutions of any wrongdoing in the awarding of contracts at the company.
The ruling was handed down on Monday, two years after the Contractor General accused the JUTC management of rampant corruption, and recommended that criminal charges be brought against persons within the organisation.
No charge
Former members of the JUTC management and Board received welcoming news from the Director of Public Prosecutions that no charges will be laid against them.
Contractor General Greg Christie drew the ire of some members of the company, when he cited Acting President of the JUTC, Bindley Sangster for making false statements in his 2008 report.
Mr. Christie claimed then that his office had uncovered a trail of massive procurement breaches and alleged criminal conduct in the award of several contracts at the state-run company and that the violations were committed under the leadership of late chairman, Douglas Chambers.
But in her ruling Monday, DPP Paula Llewellyn said the police conducted a detail investigation into the allegations and found nothing to back up the claim of the Contractor General.
No evidence
According to the DPP, in the case of Mr. Sangster, there is no evidence that he made a false statement to the OCG.
She argued that while there may have been procedural breaches under Mr. Bindley's watch, the breaches did not rise to the level to bring criminal charges.
The Director also cleared the Board of the JUTC.
According to her, it is clear that the late JUTC Chairman, Douglas Chambers, approved contracts without the blessing of the Board of Directors.
The DPP remarked that the evidence gathered showed that Mr. Chambers ran the JUTC in a high handed fashion and acted without direction from the Board.
She said his decision to award a contract to Simber Productions Limited, headed by Susan Simes, was a clear procedural breach, which however, would still not have risen to the threshold required for criminal charges without more evidence.
She said with the death of Mr. Chambers, the cops were not able to dig deeper to determine whether his actions rose above departmental breaches.
Simes cleared
The DPP also cleared Ms Simes, of the popular Susan Show, of any criminal liability in her dealings with the JUTC.
In her conclusion, the Director said there has been no material uncovered by the police to support the laying of criminal charges against anyone in the matter.
She added that there was no material to suggest that there was any conspiracy on the part of persons within the JUTC to commit any criminal act.
She said the probe conducted by the police did not uncover any material to suggest that any of the persons interviewed obtained illicit benefits from any of the procedural breaches which have been identified.
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