Police Raids in on Reid and Associates

On Wednesday, October 9, members of law enforcement agencies conducted early morning raids at the homes of former Education Minister, Ruel Reid; Caribbean Maritime University President, Fritz Pinnock; and Councillor of the Brown's Town Division in St. Ann, Kim Brown Lawrence.

Reid along with his wife, Sharen, and daughter, Sharelle, were taken into police custody on allegations of corruption, fraud and misappropriation of public funds, at the Ministry of Education and the CMU.

The coordinated raids were conducted at about 5 a.m. and ended just before midday with persons alleged to be Ruel Reid, Sharen and Sharelle covered under a blanket, being led from an upper St. Andrew premise. They were placed in an unmarked police vehicle and sped away from the location.

Several documents and computers were removed from the house by the police for further searches.

Law enforcement agencies confirmed in the night that the Reids, Pinnock and Councillor Lawrence were arrested and charged with several offences.

Upon the completion of the interview process, these parties were subsequently charged with various illegal acts, including breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act (CPA), conspiracy to defraud, misconduct in a public office at common law and breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA)," the Financial Investigations Division, (FID), the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), and the Constabulary Financial Unit of the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Division (CTOC) said in a news release.

These arrests came moments after the President of the Opposition - People's National Party, Dr. Peter Phillips called for an update from the authorities on the case and others being investigated. He said that several months have passed and there is no confirmation from the Director of Public Prosecution's office on whether or not, Reid is guilty of the accusations of fraud and corruption.

In response, Dr. Horace Chang, who was acting as prime minister in Holness' absence, said that the claims made by Dr. Phillips are 'troubling' and "Dr. Phillips' calls show a lack of understanding of the current anti-corruption framework and the modern levels of good governance, which requires politicians to not interfere with independent investigations."

Couple of hours after, Reid and four others were arrested. Did Dr. Phillips' questions lead to the early morning arrests?

Chief Technical Director of the FID, Robin Sykes in a Jamaica Observer article said that the investigators believe that they have established a strong case against all five. He pointed out that this was something that was planned, not something they just "pulled out of a hat after one or two days."

For her part, the Director of Public Prosecution, Paula Llewellyn, said that the last consultations with the law enforcement agencies were three months ago and since then, there has been no further contact. But, the decision for arrest and charge to bring any of the accused before court laid with the police and other investigative bodies.

Some would affirm that Ruel Reid has led the party to shambles, the government is under further microscopic evaluations and his family is in misery.

It is alleged that Reid has scammed the public out of $50 million that was diverted to his and Pinnock's personal use through several schemes, including the Career Advancement Programme - Youth Employment Solutions (CAP-YES). Was all this necessary? After this arrest, persons in the community said that he was maybe taking this money to fund his upcoming campaign in St. Ann. He was a vying candidate until the allegations surfaced at the Ministry of Education. After that, he had to resign from the Government and he lost his candidacy position.

This adds more fuel to a fire that was already pointing out the level of corruption that the Government continues to allegedly hoard.

If they are innocent, then let justice run its course. If not, they should feel the full force of the law. Justice should be impartial to race, status or colour.