Two of the most newsworthy and jaw dropping events to have rocked the local political scene in the last 18 months were – the decimation of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in the last general election, AND, the arrest of former DLP minister Donville Inniss in the United States.
BU pages must record Donville Inniss entered a plea of NOT GUILTY and the case is scheduled to be heard in October 28, 2019. He is charged with laundering USD36,000 derived from a bribe offered by former employees of Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited (ICBL) Alex Tasker and Ingrid Innes. Said monies were wired by ICBL to the principal of a dental company domiciled in New York with Inniss the beneficiary. Disclosures in documents filed by the United States Attorney Office revealed Inniss’ troubles were said to be linked to political rivals trying to frame him.
Since the news of Inniss arrest there is a sub story that has not been subjected to the full glare of public scrutiny. We have our moribund traditional media to hold accountable for reneging on its mandate to pursue truth. A reminder the media is referred to as the guardian of truth:-
The purpose, ‘raison d’être’, of this fourth element is to act as an counterbalance, a systemically opposite force that is to report, verify and question matters of governance, public matters as well as commercial ones, conducted by the powers, we the people, have entrusted it with and bestowed upon – On the role of journalism: facts vs
The Commissioner of Police (CoP) Tyrone Griffith is on the record he will not investigate the matter involving ICBL – a company incorporated in Barbados – identified as the source of Donville’s legal trouble. The CoP’s position was supported by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACoP) in charge of crime Eucklyn Thompson who was also quoted in the press:
We can only deal with what is available to us. We can’t go by any speculation or that kind of thing. We will deal [with] whatever comes before us in terms of evidence… and the investigative process . . . . We will definitely do our part. But in terms of names mentioned and that kind of thing so being put on the table, that’s not what it is – Barbados police won’t touch case involving former gov’t minister Inniss
The substance of the police position is that they must have a complaint lodged in order to pursue any matter. The idiocy of the CoP and the ACoP declared position is that AG Dale Marshall urged the police chief to launch an investigation into bribery allegations involving Inniss and the Bermudian-owned, Barbados-based ICBL. However, as an independent body, the RBPF cannot be legally instructed by a Cabinet minister to undertake investigations; that role is reserved for the Crown’s Director of Public Prosecutions. Another WTF moment.
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We know that US court documents implicate former ICBL employees Alex Tasker and Ingrid Innes. We know that the local employee implicated in the alleged bribing of Donville Inniss was fired by ICBL and also had to part ways from Digicel as Executive Chairman. To the blogmaster’s simple way of thinking there is enough for the police to initiate an investigation. Instead what we have is business as usual with the authority class closing ranks in BIM.
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