Come clean!

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is repeating its call for the Minister of Finance Dr Nigel Clarke to state the full costs being borne by the Government of Jamaica in the ongoing fraud investigations at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL).

Opposition spokesman on finance Julian Robinson said, “Each day more information emerges on the extent of the role being played by the Government and its agencies in footing the bill for the investigations. The Government needs to be completely transparent and come clean with the public about these expenditures.”

Robinson is asking the minister of finance to state specifically:

1) the cost to the Government for engaging the forensic auditing firm Kroll Associates

2) the cost to the Government for engaging the receiver/manager

3) any other expenditures being paid for by the Government in pursuit of the investigations

Robinson emphasised, “Full transparency requires the disclosure of expenditures not just by the Ministry of Finance but by both the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Investigations Division, who are funded by the public purse.”

The Opposition wishes to make it clear that it supports the efforts to ensure there is a thorough and complete investigation at SSL but is concerned that there is no clear time frame for how long the Government will have to shoulder these responsibilities and is sceptical about the extent to which the Government can recover these expenditures at a later date.

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service (MOFP) released a statement yesterday surrounding queries on the SSL investigation costs that are being incurred by the Financial Investigations Division (FID) and Financial Services Commission (FSC). It clarified that the $300 million mentioned in Wednesday’sJamaica Observerarticle relates to financial resources that arose from the confiscation of ill-gotten gains under the Proceeds of Crime Act. These funds come from civil and criminal recovery through the courts and are kept in an interest-bearing account.

According to the MOFP, the $300 million has been earmarked for the expansion of the FID’s head office at Shalimar Avenue and to fund the extraordinary expenses related to the SSL fraud investigation. The expansion of the property has become necessary due to the staff count doubling from 90 plus positions to over 193, which is part of efforts to strengthen Jamaica’s ability to investigate financial crimes and enhance its anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) standing.

“It is vitally important for Jamaica that the perpetrators, conspirators, and co-conspirators in alleged fraudulent schemes at SSL are brought before the Jamaican courts. This time must be different. Due to the complexity of the matter, however, achieving a successful investigation requires the deployment of specialised resources,” the statement noted.

The release also mentioned how the FSC is self-funded and not funded by tax revenue or the consolidated fund. The expenses incurred by the FSC for the investigation would be funded from its reserves, which stand around $1.8 billion. It also mentioned that the SSL staff are needed to handle over 8,000 client accounts for a variety of services, which includes the eventual transfer of client assets to other brokers designated by clients.

Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke has been attempting to educate the public through different social channels on the SSL investigation following last Thursday’s intervention for SSL’s staff payments. This included a public spaces discussion onX(formerlyTwitter) last Friday and providing explanations on his different social media accounts.

Dr Clarke noted that he would have had to check any confidentiality clauses before he could comment on the value of Kroll’s services. However, he noted that the UK Government was providing financial support related to their services. Dr Clarke was not able to provide the exact cost on theX Spacesfor the investigation.

On Wednesday, PNP Senator Dr Andre Haughton made a tweet stating, “Just heard the government set aside $300 million to pay for #SSL mishap so far… This is getting more and more ridiculous everyday…where is the Nurses, police and teachers pay.”

Dr Clarke rebuffed the comment and responded, “Jamaica is a democracy. As such, political competition is good. However, the naked pursuit of power through the origination and propagation of inflammatory, sensational, uninformed, and false claims does a disservice to our country. Rather than seeking to edify, to educate and to build you seek to maliciously tear down. My friend, it is such a short-sighted approach.”

Dr Clarke also refuted a tweet made by Opposition Leader Mark Golding last Saturday about entities bailed out by the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (Finsac).