Charges recommended for councillors over failure to file declarations

Integrity Commission Director of Corruption Prosecution Roneiph Lawrence has recommended charges against two sitting and two former councillors for repeatedly failing to file their statutory declarations with the Integrity Commission, in some cases, over several years.

Lawrence, in his ruling, advised that “multiple charges” be brought against Renair Benjamin, councillor for the Westchester Division (Portmore), for breaching Section 43(1)(a) of the Integrity Commission Act (ICA), which makes it an offence to withhold required information without reasonable cause. The law carries penalties of up to $500,000 or six months’ imprisonment upon conviction.

Benjamin, a People’s National Party (PNP) representative, allegedly failed to file declarations for the periods ending December 2020 and December 2022.

According to Director of Investigation Kevon Stephenson, Benjamin was given the option to clear his liability by paying a $250,000 fixed penalty and submitting the outstanding declarations. While he eventually submitted the forms, he did not pay the fine and, therefore, did not discharge his liability.

Also facing charges are Leroy Dunn, former Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor for the Guys Hill Division (St Catherine), and Sydney Rose, PNP councillor for Treadways Division (St Catherine). Both reportedly failed to file their financial declarations for 2019 to 2022.

Dunn, who contested the 2024 Local Government Elections as an independent, was offered the same opportunity to pay the penalty and comply but reportedly did not.

Stephenson noted that both Dunn and Rose provided no reasonable cause for their failure to submit the requisite statutory declarations to the commission by the due date and ignored opportunities to settle their breaches under Section 43(3), which allows individuals to avoid prosecution by paying the fixed penalty and filing overdue declarations.

Rose, like Benjamin, submitted his forms but failed to pay the penalty.

Meanwhile, former Red Hills Division (St Catherine) councillor Keith McCook is also to be charged for failing to file his statutory declaration for the period ending December 2022. Stephenson found that McCook, too, was offered a chance to settle by paying the $250,000 fine and filing the outstanding declaration but did neither.