Heat on public officials for breaching Integrity Commission law

Five public servants and a former officer of the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) have found themselves in trouble with the law for allegedly contravening the Integrity Commission Act (ICA) by failing to submit their statutory declarations for specific periods.

Tanesha Adams, former inspector at the ECC, is now facing a charge of breaching Section 43(1)(a) of the ICA for the offence of failure to submit a statutory declaration for the period ending December 31, 2023.

Director of Investigation Kevon Stephenson conducted an investigation and concluded that Adams, by virtue of being a public official as defined by the legislation, was legally obligated to file a statement containing her income and assets with the IC for the year 2023.

Stephenson said Adams failed to submit the requisite statutory declaration to the commission by the due date, and that she provided no reasonable cause for her failure to do so.

He referred the report to the director of corruption prosecution, who determined that Adams be charged.

FAILURE TO SUBMIT STATUTORY DECLARATIONS

Floyd Thompson, senior inspector of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC), and Maurice Thompson, director of licensing and registration at the BGLC, were also slapped with similar charges for failing to submit their statutory declarations to the anti-corruption body.

Both Thompsons have been accused by the IC of not submitting their statutory declarations for the period ending December 31, 2023.

The two BGLC officials came under the microscope of the director of investigations, who carried out a probe and submitted a report to the director of corruption prosecution for consideration.

Three persons employed to the Administrator General’s Department (AGD) have allegedly breached Section 43(1)(a) of the ICA and are now facing charges after a ruling by the director of corruption prosecution.

Antonia Evans and Rushane Clarke, senior case officers at the AGD, and Paul Simon, property administrator at the department, have allegedly violated the ICA by failing to file their statutory declarations for the period ending December 31, 2023.

The three AGD officers are now facing charges for breaching Section 43(1)(a) of the ICA.

The reports on the public officials who contravened the ICA were tabled in Parliament on Tuesday along with their indicative rulings.

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