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American visitor dies after swim on Cayman Brac
(CNS): The police have confirmed that a 75-year-old American tourist who was visiting Cayman Brac on vacation died on Friday soon after snorkelling in the ocean. The tourist was pronounced dead at around 11:30 on Friday morning (3 May) A police spokesperson said the man and his wife were snorkelling in the vicinity of the Fosters Road in the Stake Bay area, where the man collapsed after reaching the shore. Emergency services attended the scene and the victim was transported to the Faith Hospital by ambulance but he was pronounced dead. They were both staying at the Brac Reef Beach Resort.
Joey Ebanks’ court case adjourned until after election
(CNS): The Grand Court case against North Side candidate Joey Ebanks was adjourned until 14 June in order for both the defence and crown counsels to deal with the various charges against the former MD of the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA). Ebanks, who answered his bail in Grand Court, still has more than 20 counts relating to dishonesty in the Summary Court as well as a separate drug related offence, which was also mentioned in Summary Court Friday morning. Several of the dishonesty offences are expected to be committed to Grand Court before his next appearance. Ebanks has continued to vehemently deny the allegations and had continued to claim he is the victim of a corrupt conspiracy because of his efforts to expose corruption.
Ebanks is currently facing a civil suit filed by Dan Scott, the chair of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC), and threats of legal action by others, including Cayman Islands Governor Duncan Taylor, as a result of the continued allegations the candidate is making on Facebook and his radio show on vibe FM.
IRS targets US taxpayers’ FCIB accounts
(CNS Business): The Internal Revenue Service has obtained a federal court order that will allow them to access bank records of US taxpayers suspected of hiding accounts at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB), a Barbados-based bank with branches in 18 Caribbean countries, including the Cayman Islands, but with none in the US. The court authorized the IRS to serve a John Doe summons on Wells Fargo Bank related to a US correspondent account maintained by FCIB, directing it to produce records of deposits and payments by check and wire that will allow the IRS to identify US taxpayers with accounts at FCIB and other banks that used FCIB’s Wells Fargo correspondent account. Read more and comment on CNS Business
Disqualified Brac candidate guilty of PTA theft
(CNS): Lyndon Leathan Martin (42), a former MLA for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman and a former UDP whip, has been found guilty of stealing $926 from the PTA of the Creek and Spot Bay Primary School. The court found that he collected the cash at a fundraising food sale in 2011 but did not hand it over to the PTA. In Summary Court on the Brac on Friday 26 April, the day following his trial, Acting Magistrate Grace Donalds handed a sentence of $750 or two months in jail for the charge of theft. However, he was found not guilty of deception, relating to charges that he fraudulently cashed PTA cheques amounting to $700. Martin, who was nominated to stand as a candidate in the May 2013 elections, had been disqualified because he was convicted in 2008 of obtaining property by deception.
Since the 2008 conviction was for a dishonesty offence, he was barred from running in any General Election.
On the 5 April, just nine days after Nomination Day (29 March), the Elections Office released a statement: “The Returning Officer for the electoral district of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman has concluded that Mr Lyndon Leathan Martin, who was nominated and consented to such nomination as a candidate for that district, is not qualified to be elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly pursuant to section 62(1)(e) of the Cayman Islands Constitution Order 2009.”
Martin told CNS in response to his disqualification, "I completely disagree with the ruling but will have to accept it. My police record is completely clean."
However, even if he had not been disqualified for the 2008 conviction, this latest court ruling would have meant that he could not run for office under the current constitution.
Martin represented the Sister Islands in the LA from 2000-2005 and, together with his fellow Brac MLA Juliana O’Connor Connolly, he was a founding member of the United Democratic Party in 2001, following the ousting of Kurt Tibbetts as leader of government business. While O'Connor-Connolly was initially given the job of speaker by the new LOGB, McKeeva Bush, Martin became the party whip (a member charged with ensuring that party members vote according to the official party policy).
Having lost his seat in the 2005 election to Moses Kirkconnell, Martin failed to regain it in the 2009 General Election.
Cops release all suspects in shooting case
(CNS): Updated 2pm – An RCIPS spokesperson said Monday that the police are still appealing to the public for information regarding an incident on 11 April when armed men fired on local police following a car chase through Lakeside Condos in George Town. Police said said that two people arrested in connection with the case had been released on police bail pending further enquires. Although police have arrested around half a dozen suspects since the incident, no charges have yet been brought and no one remains in custody regarding the incident. Meanwhile, Cayman Crime Stoppers has offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information in the case, from a special fund backed by government, for information that leads to the conviction of serious or gun-related crimes.
The shooting happened after a suspect vehicle crashed through the fence of the condo complex, with the police in pursuit, and the occupants abandoned the car. As the people inside the car got out and began their escape on foot, they fired at the police officers who were preparing to run after them. No one was hurt in the shooting, and it is understood the RCIPS did not return fire.
Cayman Crime Stoppers Chairman, Malcolm Ellis, appealed to the public to call the tips line to help the police with the investigation. “The police need as much information as possible in order to solidly identify those responsible and secure a conviction.” Cayman Crime Stoppers is able to offer a reward for information which proves valuable in solving a crime, and callers are given a unique code which they can use to make a claim. They never have to disclose their identity," he said.
Anyone with information relative to this incident is asked to contact any of the police stations or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477(TIPS) Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the Crime Stoppers website at www.crimestoppers.ky
Brac MLA calls on RCIPS to step up after burglaries
(CNS): Updated 2:07pm – On Saturday night Kirkconnell's Market became the latest business on Cayman Brac to be robbed in a string of burglaries on the island, including one at the Brac Reef Beach Resort two weeks ago. First elected member for the district, Moses Kirkconnell, who is managing director of the supermarket in Stake Bay, said that he has voiced his concern to the police after each incident in a rash of robberies this year but is now calling on the police commissioner to publicly assure the people of Cayman Brac that the RCIPS is doing everything it can to protect them from the thieves. Seven businesses and two homes on Cayman Brac have been burgled since the beginning of 2013.
Kirkconnell's Market was broken into between 10:00 on Saturday night (20 April) and 8:30 Sunday morning. The thieves smashed the front glass and metal door with an object and made off with a 300-400lb safe containing a substantial amount of cash belonging to the supermarket and Kirkconnell Investment and Development Company (KIDCO), which is managed from the Kirkconnell Ltd office within the store.
Officers from the Cayman Brac Police Station attended the scene, where forensic analysis was carried out.
"I am extremely concerned with the hardship inflicted on the burglary victims and the harm these burglaries cause to undermine Cayman Brac’s reputation as a safe place to live and work," Kirkconnell stated. "After each of the incidents, I have spoken with police to voice my concerns and ask for their commitment to do everything possible to stop these break-ins. Today, I ask the commissioner to publicly reassure our community that law enforcement is doing everything they can to solve these burglaries and to provide protection for our citizens, our homes, and our small businesses. Cayman Brac is a struggling community and these thoughtless, selfish thieves must be found and prosecuted."
On Saturday, 6 April, burglars broke into the Brac Reef hotel. Police said they were alerted to the burglary around 4:30am. They found that the front entrance door had been forced open and entry gained to the cashier section, where a safe was forced open and a quantity of cash was stolen, police said.
The RCIP is appealing to anyone who may have information that can assist with these investigations to please call any of the police stations or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS)
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Trial halted as defendant sacks attorney
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CNS): Garry Hurlston, who was on trial for theattempted murder of Wesley Clarke, has been remanded back in custody to HMP Northward while he awaits a new trial date after sacking his attorney. Hurlston (41) is accused of stabbing Clarke in the neck at a party last June. Following a catalogue of problems regarding his defence and several switches of counsel, Hurlstone once again finds himself unrepresented as he faces serious charges. Clarke, who slipped into a coma shortly after he was stabbed, has remained in a vegetative state since the incident. He is the only witness against Hurlston.
Acting Justice Nova Hall was presiding over the judge alone trial which stated last week but the case has now been suspended until the defendant, who has been on remand since his arrest a few days after the incident, can secure a new attorney and a new trial date will then be fixed.
Jack’s culpability becomes focus of ex top cops
(CNS): Former RCIPS police commissioner Stuart Kernohan has joined with the lead investigator of Operation Tempura, Martin Bridger, calling for all of the facts surrounding the bungled police corruption investigation to be revealed. Kernohan, who was sacked by the previous Cayman Islands governor, Stuart Jack, and is still attempting to get some form of legal redress, has said there needs to be a full and open investigation into the controversial 2007-2009 probe and the role of Jack in particular, who, Kernohan claims, lied about a critical piece of information. Bridger has also stated in a complaint to Scotland Yard that, had the truth been told to him by Jack at the onset, Operation Tempura would have lasted no more than a few weeks.
Kernohan said theformer governor lied about authorizing the out of hours late night search by reporters at the Cayman Net News offices, where they worked, looking for evidence to support suspicions that a senior police officer was leaking information to the late Desmond Seales, Net News editor in chief at the time.
Following Bridger’s recent official complaint to the UK police, as reported in the British media last week, Kernohan has said he is fully supportive of a thorough Metropolitan Police investigation into the complaint of alleged criminal conduct during that period in the Cayman Islands. Bridger has made a direct allegation of criminality on the part of UK officials to the London police, as he was employed directly by Scotland Yard when he first came to Cayman undercover, posing as a real estate developer along with just one other UK officer.
Kernohan, who was once on the opposite side of the investigation to Bridger but is now backing the ex-Tempura boss in his calls for complete public exposure of the probe, said he has always been keen to see a full investigation and in particular the conduct of Jack.
“From the outset, and continuing until this day, I have called for a full investigation into the conduct of the Governor and member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Stuart Jack, Samuel Bulgin the Attorney General, the Chief Secretary George McCarthy, and others involved in this fiasco,” Kernohan said in a statement released on Friday. “I continue to call for a full investigation to ensure all of the facts and documents are made public into the operations and circumstances surrounding Operation Tempura. At nearly every juncture, these probes have been resisted or, in some instances, significant reports concealed and covered up by those with the power to release them. This leads to the inevitable question: What are they hiding?” the former top cop asked rhetorically.
Kernohan said his position on the issues was simple and straightforward: “Let’s have a comprehensive investigation to expose the facts, as I am not seeing it at the moment. Open up the memos, reports, emails and documents so all the information relating to the original investigation, Operation Tempura, can be made public. Show us the truth, the whole truth, I have nothing to hide,” he added.
Kernohan has already submitted a statement to the metropolitan police in connection with Bridger’s official complaint.
After he was removed from the investigation it continued for almost two years but did not result in a single conviction for corruption – merely a very big tab for the Cayman tax payer of some CI$10 million, including a significant damage payment to a judge for a wrongful arrest. However , Bridger has slowly been raising complaints about the FCO authorities and their role in the controversial enquiry.
In his complaint to Scotland Yard Bridger says he was never told that the governor had given the nod to Kernohan to allow staff members to enter the Net News office and look for evidence and, as a result, he treated that as an illegal break-in and his investigation focused on that, which is why Kernohan and his chief superintendent, John Jones, were suspended and Net News reporter and former MLA, Lyndon Martin, was arrested for burglary.
In his redacted statement, Bridger says that his investigation proceeded on the basis “that Kernohan and Jones had gone on a ‘frolic of their own’ and had behaved unlawfully,” referring to both the commissioner and CS Jones, who coordinated the search of the office.
Although his statement released to the press has been redacted, it is clear that Bridger is referring to Stuart Jack when he states that he now has direct evidence in the form of witness statements that, despite what he was told by the governor at the time, not only was Jack fully aware of the search but had, in fact, authorised it.
“Had I had known this at the time the investigation would never have proceeded in the way which it did and all of the unfortunate events which have occurred since would not have taken place,” Bridger tells the Met in his complaint.
In his statement, Kernohan also says that the governor lied not only to Bridger but to the press as well when the news came out that he and two other senior police officers had been suspended and that a team of Scotland Yard officers were in Cayman conducting a police corruption investigation.
“I set up a meeting with Stuart Jack and the attorney general, Samuel Bulgin specifically to brief them on the allegations and to discuss the use of a witness/member of staff of the Cayman Net News to recover the evidence who had full access,” Kernohan writes in the statement. “I held three meetings with Stuart Jack on 27th, 28th and 29th August 2007. The purpose of these meetings was to fully brief him on all the available information and discuss how to protect evidence prior to the arrival of an outside team.”
Kernohan documented the meetings in his police book and notes that Jack later denied any knowledge of the entry, despite the well documented meetings.
“There can be no doubt that Governor Stuart Jack was fully briefed, authorised the operation and was fully aware of all the details. These details included the type of operation, whom it involved, when and where it as going totake place. His authorisation and direct knowledge derived from the meetings with myself on three occasions over three days and the meetings with Chief Superintendent John Jones in the presence of witness Simon Tonge on at least two occasions.”
Kernohan then states that David Legge, editor of Grand Caymanian Magazine, had asked the governor at a press briefing in March 2008 if he had any knowledge of the police operation to enter the Net News on 3 September 2007.
“Mr Jack in front of many witnesses stated that he had only become aware of the operation on being briefed on it by Chief Superintendent Bridger after his arrival on the island. Mr Jack’s answer gave the clear impression that he was without knowledge of the entry either prior to 3rd September 2007, or afterwards until the arrival of Chief Superintendent Bridger. This was clearly not the case.”
As documents regarding operation Tempura remain under wraps and the full story is still secret, Bridger’s complaint is now in the hands of the Metropolitan Police in London, as he has alleged criminality on the part of the former governor as well as various other officials involved.
See Kernohan and Bridger’s statements to the Metropolitan Police below.
CJ: CIREBA rules ‘restrictive and one-sided’
(CNS Business): In a dispute between a member of the Cayman Islands Real Estate Brokers Association (CIREBA) and a non-member over commission in a high end real estate transaction, Chief Justice Anthony Smellie ruled that Remax, one of the defendants in the case who acted for the sellers, “could not stand behind the CIREBA rules to keep the full commission for itself” and ordered them to pay the agents for the purchaser, Cayman Realty Consultant (CRC), one-half of the 5% of commission on a US$6.6 million transaction instead of a “referral fee” of US$30,000 that it said it was restricted to pay according to CIREBA rules. The judge said there was no reason in the public interest to justify invoking the CIREBA rules to block an award that was otherwise justified. Read more on CNS Business
CAL key to Brac economy
(CNS): At the Chamber of Commerce forum on Cayman Brac Friday night the only candidate to offer himself not just as a representative but as a cabinet minister was Moses Kirkconnell, who said that as tourism minister with responsibility for Cayman Airways he would make sure that the Brac had better air service. Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, while emphasizing her experience as minister, was keen to refute claims by independent candidate Maxine Moore that she and Kirkconnell could not work together as MLAs. “We support each other, no matter what party we are in,” she said. First time candidate David Bodden, however, maintained that the current politicians were “not doing what is required” and that the party system was not working. People were hurting and they need “good change”, he said.
After a late start while the audience and panel waited 40 minutes for the premier to show up, the four candidates for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman tackled the first question on improving the economy for the district. All four believed that airline service to the Sister Islands was key. Kirkconnell, deputy leader of the PPM, noted that 50 to 100 rooms are empty on Cayman Brac at all times and if they were filled, which could be achieved by better advertising, this would improve the economy and create jobs. “Two hundred more people could come,” he said. “What that would mean to the economy is more jobs.”
While Moore, making her fifth run for a seat in the Legislative Assembly, thought that making flights more affordable was imperative, Bodden focused on the aircraft and the need to for a proper airport on Little Cayman. The Twin Otters (run by CAL’s inter-island service Cayman Airways Express) were not the right aircraft for the Brac, which needed a larger plane like a Dash 8 jet. However, Cayman Airways cannot operate three different aircraft and the Twin Otters were used because they can handle the limited landing strip on Little Cayman, which meant that the Brac “has to settle” because of this, he said.
In a statement that echoed and appeared to endorse Kirkconnell’s desire for a ministry position, and with a backhanded criticism at her former party, the UDP, the premier said that more funds were needed for marketing the island but that would only happen if there was a minister of tourism who was from Cayman Brac. Cayman Airways, she said, should continue to be used “as a tool to get people to our shore”.
All four candidates believed that the retirement age should be raised, but also wanted more young people employed on the Brac. Moore said the practice of retiring civil servants and hiring them back on contract should stop and those jobs should go to young people.
Bodden wanted to see another bank on Cayman Brac, and while he fully supported passing the national conservation law and fiscal restraint by government, said that he would “move very quickly to put a cruise ship dock in place”, so that small, medium or even large cruise ships could visit the island on a daily basis. This could be built for about $4 million, he claimed. Kirkconnell said that they should “look at small cruise ships and a dock” for the island, while O’Connor-Connolly noted that the UDP administration, of which she was a member, had “diligently pursued” getting a cruise dock for the island and had “got the Chinese to sign an MOU” towards building one.
On the topic of job creation, the premier said that she had been talking to Dr Shetty (who is spearheading the creation of a health city on Grand Cayman) about establishing a medical school on Cayman Brac with about 200 students. She said she would “diligently work to pursue that venture”, which would not only introduce a “high level of academics” to the island but would also create employment as they would need to live and work here.
Kirkconnell proposed encouraging back office work on Cayman Brac to create jobs and that government “should lead from the front” to make the Brac more self-reliant. He was offended, he said, whenever he heard that the Brac was a drain on the Cayman Islands economy.
PNA candidate O’Connor-Connolly said that term limits on work permits, or rollover, was a “pet peeve’ of hers. “I never did support term limits,” she stated, and thought the “nationalistic approach” would “kill the goose that laid the golden egg”. Noting that Bermuda, Cayman’s competitor, had seen the wisdom of abolishing term limits, she said she hoped the next government would do the same.
Bodden said that this was a sensitive issue and there was a need to protect jobs for locals. Taking a jab at O’Connor-Connolly’s interim government, he said that the recently passed law to create the framework for Caymanian-only jobs was “political posturing”, and that all jobs should be for Caymanians. “If you can justify a work permit, then fine.”
Both women on the platform were adamantly againstany form of legalized gambling, whereas the two men thought the issue should be put to referendum. However, Kirkconnell noted that he would not be in favour of making gambling legal only in the Sister Islands but it should be a national question.
All Sister Islands hopefuls supported the national conservation bill. “It is embarrassing that we don’t have it passed,” Bodden said. “One problem is that we are trying to get a perfect law. We should get something as close as we can that is acceptable (to everyone) … and then amend it as needs be.”
The two incumbents thought that the bill needed a couple more rounds of consultation but the premier said the law needed to be passed early in the next administration. Kirkconnell said that if the environment “gets ruined for the next generation, they will have nothing.” He also noted that it was important to pass the law from an economic standpoint so that potential investors could feel confident in their investment.
Kirkconnell stood by his party’s position on one man, one vote in a two member constituency, with the candidates with the most votes gaining a seat in the LA, which was supported by the other three candidates, even the premier, whose former party, the UDP, had campaigned against it.
On the topic of sports, O’Connor-Connolly made the surprising announcement that a sports instructor from Doha, Qatar, (where she visited for a postal conference in September last year) had been hired for the Brac to help the current sports instructor, Mitchum Sanford. She also said that she had “sat down with Dart” towards getting a 25m pool for the island. Both independents also wanted a better pool on the Brac, and Bodden thought the island should have a skate park for the young people as well.
The PPM candidate indicated that he wanted to continue the plan for the sports complex on the Bluff that was started by the previous PPM administration – to put a running track round the field on the Bluff, to complete the changing rooms and encourage sports teams to visit and train on the island.
The PPM and PNA incumbents thought that the number of police officers should be brought up to the right staffing levels. O’Connor-Connolly, who has been a cabinet member since the last elections, blamed the RCIPS for the shortfall. The government, she said, had always asked if they have enough funds and have given them what they wanted, but she had been told just a few months ago that the Brac station does not have a full complement of staff.
Moore thought that tackling unemployment would stop the increase in crime but Bodden disagreed. “Bad people take advantage of a good economy as well as a bad one,” he said, adding that there was a need to “watch who we let into the country”.
“We need to be careful not to legislate morality,” Bodden said about Sunday trading. With a clear dig at both the former premier and the current one sitting on the same panel, who have both made large grants to churches through the Nation Building Fund, he said, “We need a clear line of separation of church and state, whether through donations or telling people when they should have their day of rest.”