First Casualty of Petrojam Fraud Investigation Arrested

March 12, 2021 | Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie |

Former Chairman of Petrojam,  Dr. Percival Badho-Singh has been arrested and charged for twelve counts of fraud. Actually the (12) twelve counts on the fraud sheet are:

 “Obtaining money by false pretense”

The scandal plagued cash rich Petrojam oil Refinery probe ordered by Prime Minister Andrew Holness has had so far one casualty.  Former Chairman Dr. Patrick Badho-Singh has been arrested and charged for twelve counts of fraud.  He is charged for “Obtaining money by false pretence.” as stated above. The amount in question is $10 million Jamaican dollars.

Pleaded Not Guilty

Bahado- Singh’s lawyer Bert Samuels’ has said inter alia:

 “My client has professed his innocence and has even returned to Jamaica to answer any charges pending against him as soon as he got wind that the investigations may be heading in a certain direction.”

Bert Samuels asserted in a media interview,  monitored by this scribe.

Background

The matter arose when Badho-Singh served as chairman of the scandal plagued Petrojam at which former Energy Minister Dr. Andrew Wheatley was asked to step aside by PM Andrew Holness.  So blatant were the findings of the probe that the PM asked the Auditor General to do an Audit into the affairs of the State owned Oil Refinery.

Bert Samuels, a noted lawyer,  further stated inter alia:

“Mr Badaho-Singh has since repaid the funds said to be falsely claimed.  It all arose from expenses reimbursed to Bahado- Singh for attendance to conferences related to Petrojam overseas, which he did not attend.  It amounted to about US$70,000 dollars converted to local currency was set at JA$10 million dollars.  Singh had upfronted the cash from his personal funds, then claimed back for same from Petrojam.”

Opposition Led PAC

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, led by the Opposition, who smelt blood and dug deep into the affairs of Petrojam.  They publicly cited irregularities in their examination of the affairs of the controversial oil Refinery. Among their findings were that certain individuals were not qualified, but got jobs despite their lack of qualifications and even having scored below the required points as set out in staff orders yet they were still employed.  The former personnel manager was one such person and an alleged close relative of hers. It caused serious political damage and not a very good look to the image of the JLP led government.

Nepotism

There were charges of nepotism leveled at the Former Energy Minister, Dr. Andrew Wheatley,  but as such this charge is not a criminal offence in Jamaica, nothing could be done legally to arrest the Minister. Morality is not the same as illegality.  The PM moved swiftly to fire Dr. Andrew Wheatley as he was made aware of the allegations. The probe was proving to be an embarrassment to PM Holness and his administration.  The Opposition accused the government of corruption.

A new Minister in the person of Mrs Fayval Williams to replace Dr. Andrew Wheatley was appointed to be the first female Energy Minister.  She has a sound background in Finance from the private sector.

We await the outcome of this trial. All are presumed innocent until otherwise found guilty.

Hopeton OConnor-Dennie is a veteran journalist with international exposure.