Search Results for 'dynamite'
Man charged over dynamite
(CNS): The director of Midland Acres appeared in court Wednesday morning facing charges relating to the importation of dynamite. CNS understands that Suresh Bhemsein Prasad was charged by police on Monday with four counts of importing explosives without a permit as an individual and another four counts as the owner of Midland Acres. The case relates to an ongoing police investigation that includes Cayman Islands Premier McKeeva Bush, who wrote to the collector of customs asking him to release the explosives in question after the shipment was seized by officials. The crown asked for an adjournment as a result of "ongoing discussions" with Prasad's defense counsel and the continuing investigation.
The Midland Acre director was bailed over to return to Summary Court tomorrow morning (Thursday 16 August) by Magistrate Kirsty-Ann Gunn, when prosecuting counsel Candice James said both sides would be able to indicate how the matter was to proceed.
According to a letter that Prasad wrote to Bush on 4 March of this year (see below), he admitted omitting an important step in the importation process regarding the NRA and asked the premier to intervene and get the dynamite released in order to fulfill a major order for marl. Prasad pointed to the investment made in the blasting materials and the need to get people in work, as he appealed to Bush for assistance.
Three days later Bush sent a memo to Collector of Customs Carlon Powery, which was copied to NRA Director Brian Tomlinson, asking that the dynamite be released. However, given the failure of Midland Acres to go through the proper process, it is understood that the NRA director reported the matter to the police.
In April the police confirmed that the premier was under investigation in connection with the explosives issue and confirmed that this was the third police probe that McKeeva Bush was involved in.
Bush remains the subject of two other investigations, one which has yet to be explained but described as financial irregularities, and the first which concerns a land deal with US developer Stan Thomas and a payment of around $3/4 million for real estate advice.
Soon after the announcement that the police were investigating the dynamite shipment and the circumstances surrounding the issue, Tomlinson was let go from his post as director of the roads authority. The official reason given by Board Director Colford Scott was that the authority was forced to downsize. However, the deputy is now acting in the position.
In the wake of the revelations, the premier denied any wrongdoing and said that the memo he sent to the collector of customs was merely an effort to assist a friend and local business person to get things moving in the economy.
See Bush's memo to customs here
See Prasad's letter to Bush here
Dynamite request in question
CNS): As pressure mounts around the premier to step aside while he remains the subject of three police investigations, a memo he sent to the collector of customs requesting the release of a shipment of dynamite has raised questions over whether or not it is a request or a direction. Although McKeeva Bush has claimed that the letter was nothing more than an effort to see if he could assist a friend, it forms part of one of the three police investigations into Bush. The opposition says that, coming from the premier, such a request could be interpreted as abuse of office as it reads more like a demand than a request.
Bush sent the memo to Collector of Customs Carlon Powery after receiving a request from the importer to assist in releasing a shipment of dynamite which was imported without the necessary licensing. A minister of finance, the premier also has responsibility for the customs department, and Powery therefore answers directly to Bush.
Despite the dangerous materials involved, the importers appear to consider their failure to secure the proper license as merely an oversight which the premier could resolve for them. In a letter to the premier, Suresh Prasad, the director of Midlands Acres (the importers of the explosives) tells Bush that although the quarrying firm normally uses Precision Drilling to do their blasting, they decided to by-pass the firm for a large job they had secured. As a result, the firm failed to clear the importation of the explosives with the National Roads Authority (NRA) and just went ahead and shipped in the dangerous materials.
In the letter dated Sunday 4 March, Prasad points to the investment and jobs that may be lost as he asks the premier to consider the problem and offer assistance.
On 7 March Bush sent a short memo to the collector of customs, copied to the director of the NRA, asking him to release the shipment, which was reportedly 32 tonnes of dynamite, and for his “request to be expedited” because the company was “desperately in need”.
Ezzard Miller has stated that, given the style and personality of the premier as well as the language used and the culture created by the premier in his ministry, the civil servant would have been in no doubt that this was more than a request for them to consider but a demand. Miller said the request was “equivalent to an order” and added that even if it was to be considered merely as a request and not a demand, it was a request to ask a senior civil servant to break the law.
“The premier has in fact given a written, what he calls a request, but we all know given the modus operandi, the personality, the culture and the character of the premier, the request is equivalent to an order to a department head to consider breaking the law,” he said, adding that this sort of thing should be dealt with via the administrative arm of government but if this was how Bush was running his portfolio then it was “very troubling”.
Bush has denied that his letter to Powery represented political interference and has described it as an effort to help a friend. “I have done nothing illegal,” the premier has stated on numerous occasions following the revelations that he is the subject of three separate police probes. He has accused the Cayman Islands governor and the bureaucrats in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of conspiring against him and the opposition leader of fuelling the flames in a bid for power.
See Bush’s memo and the letter of request sent to Bush by Suresh Prasad.
Cops open dynamite enquiry
(CNS): A consignment of dynamite shipped into the Cayman Islands last month by a local company has triggered a police investigation. The container load of explosives, which was imported without a licence, has now been seized by the customs department, a spokesperson for the RCIPS confirmed Tuesday. “Police can confirm an investigation is currently on-going into a quantity of explosives which were imported into the Cayman Islands without the necessary paperwork,” an RCIPS official stated. Sources have told CNS that the explosives plus a key piece of heavy machinery which has also been imported and seized are in connection with a “major fill project” which could have significant public interest.
As yet unable to confirm the details regarding the explosives shipment and the under declared equipment, CNS has submitted a number of questions to the authorities and has also made an FOI request about the shipments, requesting copies of any correspondence relating to the dynamite and heavy equipment between various government agencies, departments and offices.
According to the law, anyone who wishes to import dynamite must have permission and a licence to do so. The explosives law states that anyone who is not authorised in writing by the National Roads Authority director to possess, control, sell, deal, buy or import explosives is guilty of a crime.
FCO dismisses Taylor emails
(CNS): A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has said the comments by the former governor in correspondence to an FCO bureaucrat in 2012 were not relevant to the investigation or verdict in the Bush case. In response to an email enquiry and a number of questions from CNS, the FCO stood by its former man in Cayman, Duncan Taylor, when it stated that the decision to prosecute was a matter for the independent director of public prosecutions. During the Bush trial the court heard extracts from a number of emails Taylor sent to FCO official Tony Bates in London at the time about the progress of the Bush case and the then governor’s eagerness to see him charged with something.
“Governors of the British Overseas Territories take their constitutional roles seriously. Where there is evidence that someone in high office is suspected of wrongdoing, it is right that the Governor ensures the allegations are properly and swiftly investigated by the competent authorities,” the FCO spokesperson stated. “It is right that the allegations against Mr Bush were subject to a full investigation. The decision to prosecute was a matter for the independent Director for Public Prosecutions.
“The former Governor’s comments are not relevant to the outcome of either the investigation or the trial. The verdict is a matter for the courts of the Cayman Islands,” the official added.
During the Bush trial Geoffrey Cox QC, who was leading Bush’s defence team, read from correspondence emails between the governor and local police and civil servants, as well as several email dispatches that Taylor sent to the OT desk back in London.
Cox is now understood to be filing formal questions in the UK parliament regarding the Bush case and the governor’s conduct, which the attorney and Bush have all described as abuse of office.
The comments by the governor about celebrating the demise of Bush, the need to have him charged before the election, his desire to have media coverage of the arrest and charges that would maximise public awareness of the case against him and his criticisms of the DPP for dragging her feet were described as “disgraceful and unconstitutional” by Cox during the trial. The judge also described some of the comments in the emails in his summing up of the case as “unacceptable”.
At the time of the correspondence Bush was understood to be under investigation over several issues relating to corruption. The probes had all started with the discovery of a fax during an unrelated legal case from Bush to former Cayman landowner and developer, Stan Thomas, in October 2004. In it he asked for an outstanding payment of $350,000, which appeared to be linked to a Cabinet re-zoning of Thomas’ land. Bush denied that this was any kind of bung (a payment made to someone to persuade them to do something dishonest) but claimed it was a real estate bill relating to services provided by Windsor Development.
He then became the subject of a probe regarding the illegal importation of dynamite. The explosives imported by Midland Acre were seized by officials because of thefailure of the owners to follow the law, but Bush intervened and sent a memo to the collector of customs asking for the explosives destined for the quarry to be released. Bush, who had responsibility for customs, claimed at the time the correspondence was nothing more than an effort to assist a friend but questions were raised about the request, given Bush’s position.
As a result, the credit card investigation was one of three probes that was initiated by the police against Bush.
In his statement following the verdict on Thursday, Bush said he had been the subject of intense investigation during the last three years and the authorities had found nothing at all criminal, despite probing all of his financial affairs.
He also raised concerns about Cayman becoming a police state at the hands of the FCO, which still has responsibility for internal as well as external security in Cayman, even though the Home Affairs ministry now has had a greater say in police matters and funding since the implementation of the 2009 constitution.
Bush also linked his case to the arrival of the British naval vessel HMS Argyll in Cayman during his trial.
“Let us be mindful that there is a warship stuck out there and I don’t think it is a coincidence. We must put an end to the police state that we are living in,” he said.
New boss appointed to roads authority
(CNS): The Board of Directors of the National Roads Authority (NRA) has now filled the position of managing director, left vacant after Brian Tomlinson was sacked in 2012 because, the board at the time claimed, the authority was “downsizing”. However, earlier that year Tomlinson had ordered the seizure of a controversial shipment of 32 tonnes of dynamite that came into Cayman without the correct paperwork, which triggered a police investigation involving the premier and the private sector firm, Midland Acres. Paul Parchment has now been appointed to the post of MD on a 3-year contract, effective from 8 August 2014.
This Board was appointed during the last quarter of 2013 and took the decision earlier this year to launch an open recruitment process to substantively fill the post of managing director, authorities said. The Portfolio of the Civil Service provided professional human resource advice and support and the position was advertised in mid-April. Only two candidates were short-listed from those who applied and these were the two senior NRA employees who had alternately acted in the position.
The candidates were given written assignments and interviewed by a panel of five persons – four from the NRA Board and one from the private sector with professional HR experience. The Board of Directors accepted the recommendation of the panel that the job be offered to Parchment, who joined the Public Works Department in 1988 as an engineering aide. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Florida A&M and a master’s in road management and engineering from the University of Birmingham.
“We are pleased to have been able to resolve this matter. It was fundamental to the effectiveness of the Board and the agency that there be a full-time head of the authority” said Board Chair Donnie Ebanks. “We are also pleased that a suitable candidate could be found within the agency. There is much that needs to be done and the Board looks forward to working with Mr Parchment over the next few years to enhance the road infrastructure,” he added.
Mac released over explosives
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CNS): Although police say the investigation relating to the importation of explosive substances without valid permits last February is continuing, the former premier and the owner of the company involved were released from police bail Tuesday. McKeeva Bush and Suresh Prasad, the Managing Director of Midland Acres, the quarry company involved, met their bail conditions when they presented themselves to anti-corruption officers this morning and were let go. Bush still faces 11 counts relating to allegations of theft and corruption offences but no charges have been brought against the UDP leader in relation to the explosive importation or the emails he sent to senior civil servants asking them to release the illegal shipment after it was seized by the authorities.
Bush will be appearing in Summary Court on Friday morning in connection with the charges that were brought last month and he is understood to be the subject of other corruption investigations. No other arrests or charges have been made against the Cayman Islands former leader and veteran politician.
Bush has denied all of the allegations against him, pointing to a conspiracy driven by the UK because of the defiant position he has taken towards the British authorities and what he considers the undue interference of the mother country into local affairs. Bush also believes the UK is attempting to undermine his election chances as he fights for not just his own West Bay seat but to regain government and the premier’s job once again.
The second man questioned in the dynamite probe was already convicted in Summary Court last year after he agreed to plead guilty on the basis of administrative and technical errors relating to the process of importing the explosives which were meant for quarry blasting.
Prasad said that steps in the importation process were missed as a result of efforts to expedite the importation to meet a contract to supply fill to the Dart Group. The director of Midland Acre was fined $1,300 in his role as the company boss in connection with four counts of importing explosive materials without the correct permits. The court found it was a regulatory error and accepted the argument that there was “no sinister motive” and that the explosive materials had been imported for a legitimate purpose.
An RCIPS spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that the investigation surrounding the circumstances continued, despite both men being released on bail, and updates would be provided to the public as and when appropriate.
Mac’s case in hands of DPP
(CNS): The former premier of the Cayman Islands has been placed on overnight bail after another full day of questioning by officers from the RCIPS Financial Crimes Unit on Tuesday. He has been bailed to return to the police headquarters tomorrow. Although McKeeva Bush has not yet been charged, police officials said that evidence gathered in the investigation so far and the information from the interviews has been submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions for her to consider and offer her advice to the police on whether or not the former and first premier of the Cayman Islands should be charged in connection with his arrest on suspicion of theft and corruption allegations.
Meanwhile, Suresh Prasad the director of Midland Acres who was arrested in relation to the importation of explosives investigation has been re-bailed until early April.
Both Bush and Prasad complied with the conditions of their bail and presented themselves to the police on Tuesday morning, police said. The police conducted further interviews with Bush and collated additional relevant evidence.
“In line with normal procedures, the details from those interviews have been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions. This is to allow her to consider the latest information along with the previously submitted evidence file,” a spokesperson for the RCIPS stated, adding that Bush has been placed on overnight bail and is due to present himself to RCIPS officers again on Wednesday afternoon. “The re-bailing is to allow the DPP an opportunity to consider all of the evidence currently available and thereafter advise the RCIPS of her decision as to whether charges can be laid,” she added.
(Photo: Bush consults with his lawyer outside the Police HQ Tuesday)
Bush was arrested at his home in December on suspicion of theft and corruption offences. The allegations include the misuse of a government credit card as well his alleged involvement in an importation of commercial dynamite without the correct permits. The police are also understood to be carrying out several other investigations relating to other accusations of corruption, including a land zoning deal and allegations of bribery among others that the police had not yet defined.
Bush due to report to cops
(CNS): The former premier of the Cayman Islands is expected to answer his bail on Tuesday in connection with his arrest in December. McKeeva Bush was bailed in February after the police said that the investigations had widened and they were making enquiries overseas. The veteran politician has persistently denied doing anything illegal and has made it clear he expects to be charged before the election as a result of a conspiracy against him but he will fight the wrongful allegations and is confident of exoneration. Meanwhile, his former political colleague Rolston Anglin is listed for sentencing tomorrow in traffic court in connection with his DUI conviction, but the minister is currently in Brazil.
Bush, who was arrested at his West Bay home in December on suspicion of theft and several offences under the anti-corruption law, was questioned by police for two days in connection with accusations relating to the misuse of a government credit card and his involvement with an imported consignment of dynamite without the correct paperwork.
The director of the company, which was fined in Summary Court last year over the shipment, intended for blasting at a Bodden Town quarry to fulfill a contract with Dart, was also arrested shortly after Bush. Suresh Prasad, who is a close friend of the former premier, is also expected to answer police bail Tuesday.
Alongside the allegations of theft in relation to the government credit card and Bush’s involvement with the dynamite shipment, the police are still investigating allegations that have been made about Bush in connection with a questionable demand for payment to Stan Thomas in 2004. In a now infamous faxed letter to the US developer, Bush, who was the leader of government business at the time, appeared to be soliciting payment for the re-zoning of land in the West Bay Road area, which was then owned by Thomas but has since been bought by Dart.
In addition, it is understood that there could be at least two more probes surrounding the former premier that police are continuing to investigate in relation to accusations of corruption.
Since his arrest and the first two days of questioning, Bush returned to the police in February but he was immediately re-bailed to appear again on 19 March. The police said that enquiries were on-going and that the probe now included locations in Europe, the United States and in Asia. Continuing to deny any wrongdoing, Bush has been arrested on suspicion of certain offences but he has not been charged with any crime.
Bush’s former Cabinet and UDP colleague, Rolston Anglin, the education minister and deputy premier, who is dealing with legal difficulties of his own, is scheduled to be sentenced in Summary Court tomorrow. However, despite being listed to appear, the minister who also has responsibility for financial services, is in Brazil at a hedge fund conference and so will be a no show at his hearing.
Mac bailed as probe widens
(CNS): The former premier of the Cayman Islands has once again been released by police on bail after he presented himself to police officers involved in the investigations surrounding him. McKeeva Bush, the leader of the UDP and MLA for West Bay, and local businessman Suresh Prasad both complied with the conditions of their bail and turned up for questioning Tuesday morning. However, a spokesperson for the RCIPS said they were re-bailed to return in late March in the face of a widening corruption probe. The police said that enquiries were ongoing and said the probe now included locations in Europe, the United States and in Asia.
The police said that RCIPS officers were working closely with law enforcement colleagues overseas and the investigation was being progressed as expeditiously as possible.
“The investigation is still very active and police are following several positive lines of enquiry,” the police said. “The re-bailing of the suspects is to allow further investigations to take place in a number of foreign jurisdictions, including locations in Europe, the United States and in Asia."
The RCIPS said the enquiry team was required to follow the stringent, and often lengthy, legal processes in place within overseas jurisdictions to obtain the necessary evidential exhibits and supporting statements, adding that the RCIPS appreciates the widespread public interest and concern in relation to this investigation but as it is still active it would be inappropriate to make any further comment.
Bush was arrested on suspicion of theft and various offences under the anti-corruption law in December and released on police bail after two days of questioning to return today. Since then the former premier has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. However, at a public meeting following the arrest and his subsequent ousting from office by his former Cabinet colleagues, Bush said he still expected to be charged at some point before the general election in May as a result of a conspiracy against him.
Bush will now return to the police to answer more questions close to Nomination Day ahead of the election in which he has vowed to run.
The former premier’s arrest relates to allegations of misuse of a government credit card and abuse of office regarding his involvement with a consignment of dynamite, which was imported by Midland Acres, a local quarry and property business based in Bodden Town, without the correct permits and licences.
The owner, who is known to be a close friend of the former premier, appeared in Summary Court last year after he and his company were charged with the unlawful importation. As MD and owner, Suresh Prasad chose not to fight and pleaded guilty to the offence and received a fine of $1,300. However, Prasad was arrested again bypolice on the afternoon of 11 December and questioned on suspicion of offences under the anti-corruption law, including breach of trust, abuse of office and conflict of interest. He was also bailed by police to return for further questioning this month.
Meanwhile, Bush is also understood to still be under police investigation for at least one other matter, which relates to a real estate bill sent in 2004 to Stan Thomas, a former land owner in Cayman, regarding the zoning of property that Thomas owned at the time along the West Bay Road that he was seeking to develop but which has since been bought by the Dart Group.
Following Bush's arrest on 11 December, his former Cabinet colleagues supported a 'no confidence' motion filed by the opposition in the Legislative Assembly, which resulted in the downfall of the UDP administration. The opposition then agreed to support the remaining Cabinet members in a minority government by offering to ensure that there would be a quorum in the Legislative Assembly. As a result, the governor agreed to appoint the then deputy premier, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, as the new premier to head government until the general election on 22 May.
Despite his difficulties, Bush came out fighting and carried one Cabinet member and two of his back-bench UDP colleagues on to what became a very crowded opposition bench. Shortly after his arrest he held a public meeting in George Town, where it was clear he still carried considerable support.
He told the crowd that he had been questioned by the police regarding overseas dry cleaning bills and political books he had purchased in London for a library in the premier’s office. Describing his arrest as a conspiracy and pointing the finger at the governor and the Foreign Office, Bush vowed not only to fight the allegations but alsoto continue the political fight with a full slate of UDP candidates in West Bay, Bodden Town and George Town at the May election.
When Bush was released on bail by police in December, the police stated that this was to allow for further investigations and confirmed that a considerable amount of property, including computer equipment, was seized during the searches of his home and office.
Bush to answer bail
(CNS): The former Cayman Islands premier is due to answer bail Tuesday morning when he is expected to face further questions regarding the RCIPS investigations following his arrest on suspicion of theft and various offences under the anti-corruption law in December. McKeeva Bush was released on police bail after two days of questioning and he has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. However, at a public meeting following the arrest and his subsequent oustingfrom office by his former Cabinet colleagues, Bush said he still expected to be charged at some point before the general election in May as a result of a conspiracy against him.
Bush was arrested over allegations of misuse of a government credit card and abuse of office regarding his involvement with a consignment of dynamite, which was imported by Midland Acres, a local quarry and property business based in Bodden Town, without the correct permits and licenses.
The owner, who is known to be a close friend of the former premier, appeared in Summary Court last year after he and his company were charged with the unlawful importation. As MD and owner, Suresh Prasad chose not to fight and pleaded guilty to the offence and received a fine of $1300. However, Prasad was arrested again by police on the afternoon of 11 December and questioned on suspicion of offences under the anti-corruption law, including breach of trust, abuse of office and conflict of interest. He was also bailed by police to return for further questioning this month.
Meanwhile, Bush is also understood to still be under police investigation for at least one other matter, which relates to a real estate bill sent in 2004 to Stan Thomas, a former land owner in Cayman, regarding the zoning of property that Thomas owned at the time along the West Bay Road that he was seeking to develop but which has since been bought by the Dart Group.
Following Bush's arrest on 11 December, his former Cabinet colleagues supported a 'no confidence' motion filed by the opposition in the Legislative Assembly, which resulted in the downfall of the UDP administration. The opposition then agreed to support the remaining Cabinet members in a minority government by offering to ensure that there would be a quorum in the Legislative Assembly. As a result, the governor agreed to appoint the then deputy premier, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, as the new premier to head government until the general election on 22 May.
Despite his difficulties, Bush came out fighting and carried one Cabinet member and two of his back-bench UDP colleagues on to what became a very crowded opposition bench. Shortly after his arrest he held a public meeting in George Town, where it was clear he still carried considerable support.
He told the crowd that he had been questioned by the police regarding overseas dry cleaning bills and political books he had purchased in London for a library in the premier’s office. Describing his arrest as a conspiracy and pointing the finger at the governor and the Foreign Office, Bush vowed not only to fight the allegations but also to continue the political fight with a full slate of UDP candidates in West Bay, Bodden Town and George Town at the May election.
When Bush was released on bail by police in December, the police stated that this was to allow for further investigations to take place both here in the Cayman Islands and abroad, in connection with the allegations made against him. They also confirmed that a considerable amount of property, including computer equipment, was seized during the searches of his home and office following his arrest.
"The investigations involving Mr Bush are still very active and the RCIPS will be pursuing all lines of enquiry in consultation with the Legal Department," the RCIPS said as Bush was bailed to return on Tuesday 5 February.