13 July 2017
Former Bahamas Minister Charged in Bribery and Extortion Investigation
By Caribbean 360
NASSAU, The Bahamas, Thursday July 13, 2017 – Former Bahamian Environment and Housing Minister Kenred Dorsett was today remanded to prison after being formally charged with one count of misconduct in public office and four counts each of extortion and bribery.
The dramatic development came after he was interrogated by police yesterday, in connection with investigations relating to the New Providence Landfill.
Dorsett’s attorney, Wayne Munroe, told the Bahamas Tribune that the investigations stemmed from allegations that $80,000 to $100,000 was allegedly exchanged in connection with work done by a heavy equipment operator, to move debris from the landfill, following a massive fire at the site in March.
“The government called for anyone to come with heavy equipment and, so, a gentleman made an allegation stemming from then and that issue. When we sat down with the police, all they said was the allegations stemmed [from] an unspecified time, between March and April, involving between $80,000 to $100,000. This guy [who is giving information to police] is making these accusations but they could show no evidence of money being exchanged, no wire transfers, we were not shown any documents or any cheques,” Mr Munroe claimed.
The attorney, who said his client freely cooperated with police, warned that the incident sets a dangerous precedent.
“So anyone can say ‘between this amount of time, I gave someone between $80,000 to $100,000’. That sets a dangerous precedent. What now stops someone who had a meeting with the present prime minister from doing the same thing?” he said.
The development has drawn the ire of interim leader of the Opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Philip Davis, who pledged the party’s full support for the embattled Dorsett.
In a statement issued today, Davis accused the Free National Movement (FNM) government of “conducting a witch hunt” and questioned whether it was possible for Dorsett to receive a fair trial “in this jurisdiction.”
The PLP leader also insisted that his party “does not support corrupt practices”.
Dorsett is scheduled to reappear in court on August 31.
In the meantime, it is expected that an application would be made for bail in the Supreme Court.
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