BY ALPHEA SAUNDERS Senior staff reporter saundersa@jamaicaobserver.com Thursday, May 21, 2015
SECURITY Minister Peter Bunting yesterday accused the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (CPC) of protecting corrupt public officials by frustrating investigations being carried out by the police into cases of ill-gotten gain.
"In many cases when the police are investigating cases of illicit enrichment you [the commission] refuse to share the statutory declarations with them, even though all it requires is for you to open your investigations," Bunting remarked during the sitting of the joint select committee of Parliament.
The committee is deliberating changes to the Integrity Commission Act, in order to establish a single anti-corruption agency.
"We have cases where public officials at the relevant time have been charged for multiple offences, and the police want to proceed against them, and you refuse to open your investigation, which would allow the police to be able to access their statutory declarations and proceed with successful prosecution," Bunting charged.
"It's actually operating in a perverse way, to protect corrupt public officials," the minister insisted.
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| Peter Bunting |
But Executive Director of the Commission David Grey, who was present in Parliament, refuted Bunting's claim. He pointed out that there are provisions in the Corruption Prevention Act which the body is not at liberty to override.
"The ruling from the Attorney General's Chambers indicate that the commission can only divulge the statutory declaration under a request under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Once those requests are made, the commission has responded to every one. That is the opinion we have from the Attorney General's Chambers, and the commission has abided by that," Grey argued. more
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