Dennis Gordon’s JACDEN repays customs duties linked to UHWI tax exemption controversy, PAC chairman discloses

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Julian Robinson says JACDEN Limited, a company owned by People’s National Party Member of Parliament, Dennis Gordon, has repaid funds it saved when the University Hospital of the West Indies (UWHI) misused its tax exemption company to import goods on its behalf.

Robinson made the revelation on Wednesday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines programme.

“A report was done by customs [and] it identified what the duties are and Mr. Gordon has paid those duties,” he said.

Robinson said he was told that it was approximately $10 million, and that Gordon, who is a member of the PAC and MP for St Andrew East Central, shared this information with him before Tuesday’s sitting of the committee, which examined the multimillion-dollar breaches that were uncovered in an audit of the health facility in January.

Gordon had also recused himself from that sitting.

“The principal of JACDEN had indicated to me that one of the reports relates to his company, and he, in fact, has paid to the university [hospital of the west indies] the sums of the duties that are outstanding. He has told me that, at this stage, I can’t speak on the other entities, but he has indicated that to me.”

Three other companies - Supreme Laundry Services, Willman Sales, and Scientific Medical Services - have also benefited from the UHWI’s misuse of its tax exemption status, contributing to total losses amounting to $23.1 million.

The Integrity Commission, the police, and the Jamaica Customs Agency is currently probing this misuse.

Robinson stressed that the UHWI needs to provide answers to the public on why it decided to use its tax exemption status for these companies, pointing out that in some cases, the hospital would buy items imported under this status at significantly high costs from these same companies.

Young Jamaica, the youth arm of the governing Jamaica Labour Party, has called for Gordon’s resignation as a Member of Parliament, PNP Region 3 Chairman, and PAC member.

In a previous statement issued in February, JACDEN Group of Companies maintained that its engagement with UHWI was compliant and that the Auditor General’s findings pointed to administrative and systemic failures within the hospital, not misconduct by the company.

“The report identifies administrative and systemic failures within UHWI’s internal procurement and customs-related processes and does not conclude that JACDEN caused or directed those failures,” the company said, adding that its operations were conducted under formal arrangements and in accordance with applicable procedures.

JACDEN, a healthcare and janitorial services company based in St Andrew.

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