Monday, July 20, 2009T & C Final Inquiry Report

Caribbean Net News'Possible Corruption' By Former Turks and Caicos Ministers

In the final Commission of Inquiry report, released in a redacted form by Governor Gordon Wetherell on Saturday, Sir Robin Auld finds “possible corruption” on the part of former premier Michael Misick and four other former Turks and Caicos cabinet ministers: former deputy premier and minister of finance Floyd Hall; former minister for natural resources McAllister Hanchell; former minister for housing, agriculture, works and telecommunications Jeffrey Hall; and former minister of health and education Lillian Boyce.

Commissioner Sir Robin
Auld QC
Current premier Galmo Williams escapes any direct findings of possible corruption but, according to the report, “The Commission has no basis, on the information before it, for suggesting corruption on his part, but it does suggest a willingness to go along with the general attitude of the then Cabinet without demur. It also reflects a lack of control over, or sufficient awareness of, the running of his own Department, which has allowed inefficiencies and the possibility for corruption to thrive.”

The Commission found in relation to Misick that:

   1. He failed repeatedly throughout his period of membership of the Legislature of the TCI to make full and accurate declarations of his interests as required;

   2. He failed in several important respects to make adequate disclosures in response to the Commission’s requests;

   3. He may have abused his position as Premier and as Leader of the PNP Party by using PNP funds for his own purposes;

   4. He accepted and failed to declare to the Registrar of Interests many gifts of money via the client account of his brother and attorney, Chal Misick;

   5. The receipt by Michael Misick of $250,000 via the client account of Chal Misick, was possibly a corrupt payment;

   6. Undocumented and un-repaid, ‘loans’ to Misick, collectively amounting to about $350,000 from Jeffrey Hall, Floyd Hall or his brother and Lillian Boyce or her brother, were possibly corrupt payments;

   7. He accepted and failed to declare to the Registrar of Interests many gifts or purported loans of money via the client account of his brother and attorney, Chal Misick, which were possibly corrupt on account of possible favours given by him in his capacity as Premier;

   8. He may have promoted the abuse of the Crown Land Policy on a number of occasions, and benefited personally from that abuse;

   9. He behaved in a possibly corrupt manner and/or in misfeasance of his public duty, by securing highly paid advertising contracts for his wife;

10. He behaved in a possibly seriously dishonest manner, including misfeasance in public office and dishonest misappropriation of public funds, by his possible misuse of government funds and facilities for his personal purposes in his use of aircraft chartered or leased by the Government for official purposes.

Several other findings in relation to Misick have been redacted from the report.

Sir Robin recommends “criminal investigation by police or others in relation to him [Misick] into possible corruption and/or other serious dishonesty in relation to such and other similar matters in recent years.”

In relation to former deputy premier and minister of finance Floyd Hall, the Commission found that:

   1. He repeatedly failed to make full and accurate declarations of his interests to the Registrar of Interests as required, in particular his failure to declare his interest in the Casablanca Casino in Providenciales.

   2. He failed in several important respects to make adequate disclosures in response to the Commission’s requests;

   3. As Treasurer of the PNP, he failed to administer and keep proper accounts of the funds of the PNP so as to allow party monies to be disbursed for his personal use and that of Misick and other senior party members; and misled the party as a whole as to the true state of its financial affairs and the purposes to which its monies were being put;

   4. In accepting a payment of $375,000, he possibly acted dishonestly, including by way of misfeasance in public office, and possibly corruptly;

   5. There is information of possible corruption in the arrangement his for his wife, Lisa Hall, to be appointed a director of, and made a one-third shareholder in Elite TCI Ltd;

   6. He possibly acted corruptly and/or in misfeasance of his public office in failing to withdraw or to declare his links with Mr Richard Padgett at Cabinet discussions;

   7. A loan of $200,000 to him was a possibly corrupt payment;

   8. In accepting the payment of $200,000 purportedly for services rendered, he did so possibly corruptly and/or by conduct potentially amounting to misfeasance in public office, since the payment followed the advantageous sale of Crown Land;

   9. He took part in possibly corrupt transactions by accepting proceeds of the profits made by his brother, Quinton Hall, involving the disposal of Crown Land;

10. He perverted and/or undermined the Crown Land Policy for and process of allocation of Crown Land, and did so possibly corruptly and/or in misfeasance of his public office;

11. His conduct in promoting the award of a contract to Southern Health Network was possibly corrupt and/or otherwise seriously dishonest and/or amounted to misfeasance in public office, in subverting the proper workings of government, in particular its tender processes, to ensure that the only proposal put before the Cabinet for serious consideration was that of a friend and business colleague, Delroy Howell.

As in the case of Misick, some of the report’s findings in relation to Hall have been redacted.

Sir Robin also recommends criminal investigation by the police or others in relation to Hall of possible corruption and/or other serious dishonesty, including theft and false accounting, and/or misfeasance in public office.

In relation to former minister for natural resources McAllister Hanchell, the Commission found that:

   1. He repeatedly failed to make full and accurate declarations of his interests to the Registrar of Interests, as required;

   2. In accepting payments totalling over $300,000 into the PNP South Caicos account, he possibly entered into a corrupt transaction;

   3. He entered into possibly corrupt and/or otherwise seriously dishonest transactions and/or in misfeasance of public office, by offering on behalf of the Government grants of Crown Land to himself and/or to companies that he substantially owned or controlled;

   4. He possibly abused his ministerial position by instructing the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Natural Resources to allocate Crown Land to individuals of his choice, or to allocate Crown Land to individuals identified and notified to him by fellow Ministers, in all or most cases without proper regard to the Crown Land Policy;

   5. He may have participated in possibly corrupt arrangements in which offers of Crown Land were made to individuals who had not applied for the land.

Again, other findings in relation to Hanchell have been redacted.

Sir Robin also recommends criminal investigation by the police or others of possible corruption and/or other serious dishonesty, including misfeasance in public office, in relation to Hanchell.

In relation to former minister for housing, agriculture, works and telecommunications Jeffrey Hall, the Commission found that:

   1. He failed repeatedly to make any or any full or adequate declarations of interests to the Registrar of Interests, in breach of the Registration of Interests Ordinance, and also failed adequately to disclose his financial interests to the Commission, as required;

   2. He failed to account for his receipt and expenditure of funds in excess of $800,000 credited to his accounts; for his receipt of $200,000; and for a gift to him of $10,000;

   3. He promoted, and personally benefited from abuse of the Crown Land Policy in relation to the sale to a non-Belonger of Crown Land by participating in a possibly corrupt transaction in respect of the sale (‘flipping’) of land; loaning or giving part of the proceeds of those profits to Misick; and failing to declare his share of the profits or the making of the loan or gift of part of the profits to Misick, or to declare his involvement in the sale of the land when it was before the Cabinet for discussion;

Once again, Sir Robin recommends criminal investigation by the police or others in relation to Hall of possible corruption and/or other serious dishonesty and/or misfeasance in public office.

In relation to former minister of health and education Lillian Boyce, the Commission found that:

   1. She failed to declare to the Registrar of Interests, or initially to the Commission, her receipt of payments of Candidates’ Stipend, totalling $72,000.

   2. She participated in a possibly corrupt transaction in relation to the sale (flipping) of Crown Land by accepting the proceeds of profits made by her brother; loaning or giving part of those profits to Misick, or assisting her brother in doing so; and failing to declare those profits to the Registrar of Interests or to disclose them to the Commission, and failing to declare her brother’s connection to the transaction in related Cabinet discussions;

   3. She abused her ministerial position by assisting or permitting her fellow Cabinet Ministers, specifically Misick and Floyd Hall, to interfere in and override the Scholarships Policy for nominating according to set criteria, in particular merit, candidates for overseas scholarships, thereby by-passing the control of the Scholarships Committee; and granting a scholarship to her own daughter without referring her candidature to the Scholarships Committee for scrutiny;

Sir Robin also recommends criminal investigation by the police or others in relation to Boyce of possible corruption and/or other serious dishonesty and/or misfeasance in public office.

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