FLA signals retreat from court action against Integrity Commission report

The Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) has signalled the agency will abandon court action against an Integrity Commission report that found its database was "manipulated" to record allegedly fake ammunition purchases, including by a dead man.

"As far as I'm concerned, that's the end of the matter," said FLA Chairman, Retired Supreme Court judge Glenworth Brown, in an interview on Nationwide Radio on Wednesday. He was talking about future of the FLA's case in light of tabling of the 131-page report in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. 

A hearing on the FLA’s application in the Supreme Court for permission to seek judicial review   is set for September 17.

"I have done a number of judicial reviews myself, I must know. I have an idea about success," Brown said. "I don't know the arguments that counsel would put up on the FLA's behalf, on either side, but…we should not waste judicial time. They have enough work down there to do."

The report was tabled after a protracted legal and parliamentary standoff brought to light after The Sunday Gleaner revealed on May 17 that the IC’s FLA report submitted to Parliament on March 30, was untabled amid court action the FLA brought against the IC. 

Parliament issued a brief statement following the tabling Tuesday, noting that the Supreme Court had ruled on May 29 that the contents of the report were not pertinent to its deliberations. Gordon House had previously explained that it would be “inappropriate” to act after getting correspondence from FLA’s lawyers that they were challenging the report in court. 

Among the findings, IC Director of Investigation Kevon Stephenson concluded that firearm dealer Kent Brown was "targeted" by the FLA after its records were manipulated to show a deceased man purchasing ammunition from his dealership, one of four allegedly fabricated transactions logged under Brown's account in July 2018.

The former FLA official identified as having made the entries told investigators he acted on instructions received "either by email or memo from the Director of Information Systems and Technology Department or the Chief Executive Officer," but could not say which of the two gave the order.

Stephenson concluded the entries "prima facie constitute a breach of section 5 of the Cybercrimes Act," but said no prosecution referral could be made because the FLA said the email trail that could establish who gave the order was lost when the agency’s server crashed, with no backup.

Brown told investigators that a former senior FLA compliance officer demanded $2 million for his business "to continue operating smoothly." He said he refused and both his businesses subsequently closed after the FLA withheld his licence certificates despite renewal applications being stamped as approved.

The DI said that claim was not substantiated. 

The investigation also could not substantiate allegations that gun dealer John Elliott paid $500,000 under the table to have his shuttered shop reopened as Stephenson noted that Elliott died shortly after the probe began in 2021. 

The investigation found no evidence that any of the 1,224 firearms and firearm parts stored by the FLA at the Jamaica Defence Force for destruction were unaccounted for, clearing the authority of allegations that a planned public destruction exercise was a cover-up for missing guns.

The FLA, which which refuted the IC's adverse findings, had filed an urgent Supreme Court application in April seeking disclosure of the then unpublished report, arguing its publication would cause irreparable reputational harm. 

The court dismissed that application on May 29 but granted permission to appeal. 

FLA CEO Dalling was presented with the DI's findings before publication at a meeting on March 19, the DI said. 

In a letter to the IC dated March 24, Dalling, who has led the authority since June 2017, rejected the allegations in the report. He also noted that the agency was not previously aware of the allegations and questioned the process used by the IC to conduct its investigation.

"We strongly object to the findings and conclusions as currently stated within the commission's report," Dalling said. "We believe that if this report is allowed to be publicized and tabled in parliament in its current form, would amount to a grave injustice to the FLA and the individuals named within this report. This report will also cause reputational damage and endanger the lives of the parties named therein."

He also said "the principles of natural justice and fairness require that the FLA be given a full opportunity to respond to any adverse findings in an investigation of this caliber before its publications" and "to date, we have not been allowed to do so."

However, the IC said Dalling's written response contained no evidence that would alter the conclusions or recommendations.

The Opposition People's National Party has called for Dalling to resign. 

Opposition Leader Mark Golding had threatened court action if the report was not tabled, a move rejected by Senate President Tom Tavares-Finson who said he and Speaker Juliet Holness will not “bow to any intimidation or threat”.

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.