Ex ERA boss still not officially answered charges

(CNS): The former managing director of the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), Joey Ebanks, has still not entered any formal pleas to the catalogue of charges against him despite his recent appearance in the Grand Court. Ebanks is facing more than two dozen charges relating to allegations of theft and fraud during his time at the electricity regulator, all of which he has vehemently denied from various other public platforms aside from the courtroom dock. Appearing in the higher court Friday, Ebanks remained silent while his attorney asked for a three week adjournment to enable him to review the details of the multiple charges. Ebanks is expected to return to Grand Court to fix a trial date on 5 July.

His alleged offenses include obtaining property by deception relating to the purchase of several iPhones and iPads, amounting to almost $78,000. In addition, Ebanks, who recently ran for office in North Side while under investigation, is facing eight charges of making documents without authority and of obtaining property by deception, all of which are being handled in the Grand Court. Meanwhile, he also faces seven charges of theft relating to amounts under $5,000, which will be dealt with in Summary Court, and two drug related charges which will also be handled in the lower court.

During the recent election campaign, in which Ebanks was beaten by the independent member Ezzard Miller, Ebanks had suggested that the charges against him were part of a conspiracy and had expected all the charges against would be dropped once the election was over. However, this does not appear to be the case.