Campbell found guilty of breaching IC Act
Campbell found guilty of breaching IC Act . A judge has indicated that she was not “persuaded” by the evidence of former lawmaker Leslie Campbell during his trial for breaches of the Integrity Commission Act. Campbell, a former member of parliament (MP), senator and junior foreign minister,...
The Gleaner
A judge has indicated that she was not “persuaded” by the evidence of former lawmaker Leslie Campbell during his trial for breaches of the Integrity Commission Act.

Campbell, a former member of parliament (MP), senator and junior foreign minister, was found guilty yesterday for failing to comply with repeated requests from the Integrity Commission (IC) for additional information about his statutory declaration spanning several years.

The commission is the sole anti-corruption watchdog for public officials in Jamaica.

The outstanding information includes the surrender value for two life insurance policies and the account balance for a bank loan, the IC said.

Parish Court Judge Paula Blake Powell, in explaining her decision, cited the unsworn statement given by Campbell during the trial.

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In it, the former St Catherine North East MP indicated that he submitted to the IC details of an account – jointly held with his sister – which had a balance of “upwards of US$2,000”.

However, the judge noted that the declaration, which she examined while summarising the evidence, “does not have anything concerning his sister”.

UNSWORN STATEMENT

She also singled out an assertion made by Campbell in the unsworn statement that the bank loan was not to him, he only acted as a guarantor and it was subsequently cleared.

“However, in the declaration itself, the defendant’s name appeared under the heading of the person who received the loan,” said Blake Powell, after again examining the relevant declaration by Campbell.

“The court cannot be persuaded by the unsworn statement.”

She also pointed to the witness statement of an official at the IC which indicated that there has to be confirmation from a bank in cases where a loan is paid off.

Campbell filed statutory declarations over a six-year period starting in 2016 when he was elected MP for St Catherine North East, according to the evidence in the case.

They were analysed and assessed by the IC, which later requested additional information.

The judge said she found, based on the evidence presented during the trial, that Campbell “failed to provide a response within the stated timeline”, which was December 24, 2021”.

“There is no evidence of reasonable cause justifying the defendant’s failure to do what section 42 obliged him to do and submit the information within the specified period,” she said before announcing the guilty verdict.

The former lawmaker is scheduled to be sentenced on April 4.

Matthew Hyatt, the attorney who represented the former lawmaker, said he was disappointed with the verdict.

“We were hopeful that the judge would have returned a not guilty verdict, but I heard the summation and the judge was very thorough, very analytical in her reasoning and we respect the ruling of the judge,” he told reporters.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com
Jamaica
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2024-12-18
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A judge has indicated that she was not “persuaded” by the evidence of former lawmaker Leslie Campbell during his trial for breaches of the Integrity Commission Act. Campbell, a former member of parliament (MP), senator and junior foreign minister,...
Campbell found guilty of breaching IC Act