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DPP rules in bribery allegation against Joe Hibbert
Saturday, March 20, 2010
DIRECTOR of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn ruled yesterday that there is not sufficient evidence available for charges to be made against Joseph Hibbert, the Government MP accused of bribery in the Mabey and Johnson bridge scandal.
However, Llewellyn said there is "sufficient compelling material" for the police to further investigate allegations of corruption on the part of the former junior works minister, who was in September of last year named as one of a dozen politicians and officials allegedly bribed by the British firm for favours around the world.
Llewellyn's ruling comes after weeks of perusing the report of Contractor General Greg Christie, which was turned over to her office for action in October of last year into the allegations against Hibbert, which surfaced in December 2008.
"Most of the material (in the contractor general's report) comes from investigators abroad. The document cannot grow arms and legs and walk into court and give evidence. The police will have to use information in the OCG's report as a guide and go directly to get the statements from the particular persons named. If they don't do it, it's inadmissible hearsay," said the DPP.
"The report does not constitute a basis to direct that he be charged now. This can only come after the police have gathered the material to be translated into evidence to be used in court," Llewellyn told the Observer yesterday.
The embattled politician, who resigned from his post as junior minister in the Ministry of Transport and Works in July last year but held on to his job as member of parliament for East Rural St Andrew, is alleged to have collected £100,000 over an eight-year period for favours, including a contract valued at £14 million.
The alleged bribe was said to have been paid in the 1990s when Hibbert, an engineer, worked as chief technical director in the works ministry under the previous People's National Party Government.
Llewellyn, in the meantime, said that while it is widely held that Hibbert is the one being referred to by the overseas investigators and in the paper trail generated, the prosecution would have to be able to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is one and the same person.
Colleague parliamentarian Ernest Smith, Hibbert's attorney, has repeatedly claimed that his client was being framed, even though Hibbert had admitted to accepting monies from Mabey and Johnson for "...out-of-pocket expenses for travel", which would itself be a breach of the administrative guidelines for public servants.
"The prosecution would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a named individual Joe or Joseph Hibbert on the documents is one and the same Joseph Hibbert, member of parliament," Llewellyn said in a statement released to the press yesterday. "The method of identification and the admissions made in the requisitions to the OCG by Mr Joseph Hibbert, though sufficient to render him culpable for administrative breaches, would not suffice, without more, for proof beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal trial.
"It is only after the collection of all this material that the Jamaican police, investigators and the prosecutorial authorities will be able to properly assess the viability of the appropriateness of going forward with a potential prosecution which will have a reasonable prospect of conviction," she said further.
Llewellyn also said the local police could face several hurdles in gathering the necessary material to base a viable prosecution, given the passage of time and the fact that critical potential witnesses live abroad, among other things.
The DPP said it was entirely up to the relevant authorities at the Ministry of Transport and Works, the Public Service Commission and/or the parliamentary or political directorate to determine what sanctions and/or other administrative actions Hibbert would be subject to, if any. This, she said, was in light of the fact that he has retired from that position and is presently a member of Parliament.
The DPP also said there was "insufficient material at this time which can form the evidential substratum for instituting criminal proceedings against Deryck Gibson, chairman of Deryck A Gibson Ltd, a former agent in Jamaica for Mabey and Johnson Ltd, for the offence of conspiracy to defraud. Gibson along with Hibbert had been under suspicion by the United Kingdom investigators in relation to the corruption allegations.
Yesterday, Hibbert's attorney expressed satisfaction with the DPP's ruling and continued to assert that his client was being framed.
"Joseph Hibbert is too honest and too humble to have been involved in the kind of massive fraud and underhanded dealings that were sought to be attributed to his name," said Smith. "I have said from day one that the name Joseph Hibbert was used by persons known and unknown to defraud Mabey and Johnson. It is very unfortunate he had to suffer the way he did."
The 'albatross', he added, has been taken from around Hibbert's neck.
As to Hibbert's acceptance of monies from Mabey and Johnson for "...out-of-pocket expenses for travel", Smith said: "It was nothing new, in the scheme of things. In fact, even after Hibbert left the ministry, and up to 2006, members of the former government travelled to England in relation to Mabey and Johnson, and had out-of-pocket expenses paid for them; in fact, certain members enjoyed the privilege of going to the Wimbledon tennis tournament with tickets purchased by Mabey and Johnson."
DPP rules in bribery allegation against Joe Hibbert
Saturday, March 20, 2010
DIRECTOR of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn ruled yesterday that there is not sufficient evidence available for charges to be made against Joseph Hibbert, the Government MP accused of bribery in the Mabey and Johnson bridge scandal.
However, Llewellyn said there is "sufficient compelling material" for the police to further investigate allegations of corruption on the part of the former junior works minister, who was in September of last year named as one of a dozen politicians and officials allegedly bribed by the British firm for favours around the world.
Llewellyn's ruling comes after weeks of perusing the report of Contractor General Greg Christie, which was turned over to her office for action in October of last year into the allegations against Hibbert, which surfaced in December 2008.
"Most of the material (in the contractor general's report) comes from investigators abroad. The document cannot grow arms and legs and walk into court and give evidence. The police will have to use information in the OCG's report as a guide and go directly to get the statements from the particular persons named. If they don't do it, it's inadmissible hearsay," said the DPP.
"The report does not constitute a basis to direct that he be charged now. This can only come after the police have gathered the material to be translated into evidence to be used in court," Llewellyn told the Observer yesterday.
The embattled politician, who resigned from his post as junior minister in the Ministry of Transport and Works in July last year but held on to his job as member of parliament for East Rural St Andrew, is alleged to have collected £100,000 over an eight-year period for favours, including a contract valued at £14 million.
The alleged bribe was said to have been paid in the 1990s when Hibbert, an engineer, worked as chief technical director in the works ministry under the previous People's National Party Government.
Llewellyn, in the meantime, said that while it is widely held that Hibbert is the one being referred to by the overseas investigators and in the paper trail generated, the prosecution would have to be able to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is one and the same person.
Colleague parliamentarian Ernest Smith, Hibbert's attorney, has repeatedly claimed that his client was being framed, even though Hibbert had admitted to accepting monies from Mabey and Johnson for "...out-of-pocket expenses for travel", which would itself be a breach of the administrative guidelines for public servants.
"The prosecution would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a named individual Joe or Joseph Hibbert on the documents is one and the same Joseph Hibbert, member of parliament," Llewellyn said in a statement released to the press yesterday. "The method of identification and the admissions made in the requisitions to the OCG by Mr Joseph Hibbert, though sufficient to render him culpable for administrative breaches, would not suffice, without more, for proof beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal trial.
"It is only after the collection of all this material that the Jamaican police, investigators and the prosecutorial authorities will be able to properly assess the viability of the appropriateness of going forward with a potential prosecution which will have a reasonable prospect of conviction," she said further.
Llewellyn also said the local police could face several hurdles in gathering the necessary material to base a viable prosecution, given the passage of time and the fact that critical potential witnesses live abroad, among other things.
The DPP said it was entirely up to the relevant authorities at the Ministry of Transport and Works, the Public Service Commission and/or the parliamentary or political directorate to determine what sanctions and/or other administrative actions Hibbert would be subject to, if any. This, she said, was in light of the fact that he has retired from that position and is presently a member of Parliament.
The DPP also said there was "insufficient material at this time which can form the evidential substratum for instituting criminal proceedings against Deryck Gibson, chairman of Deryck A Gibson Ltd, a former agent in Jamaica for Mabey and Johnson Ltd, for the offence of conspiracy to defraud. Gibson along with Hibbert had been under suspicion by the United Kingdom investigators in relation to the corruption allegations.
Yesterday, Hibbert's attorney expressed satisfaction with the DPP's ruling and continued to assert that his client was being framed.
"Joseph Hibbert is too honest and too humble to have been involved in the kind of massive fraud and underhanded dealings that were sought to be attributed to his name," said Smith. "I have said from day one that the name Joseph Hibbert was used by persons known and unknown to defraud Mabey and Johnson. It is very unfortunate he had to suffer the way he did."
The 'albatross', he added, has been taken from around Hibbert's neck.
As to Hibbert's acceptance of monies from Mabey and Johnson for "...out-of-pocket expenses for travel", Smith said: "It was nothing new, in the scheme of things. In fact, even after Hibbert left the ministry, and up to 2006, members of the former government travelled to England in relation to Mabey and Johnson, and had out-of-pocket expenses paid for them; in fact, certain members enjoyed the privilege of going to the Wimbledon tennis tournament with tickets purchased by Mabey and Johnson."