Bank sends top exec on leave
FIRSTCARIBBEAN International Bank (FCIB) yesterday sent Sonia Christie, a senior executive, on three days leave,
pending investigations into how confidential information about a PNP account was leaked to the Opposition JLP.
At the same time, the bank began negotiations with the People’s National Party (PNP), hoping to head off a lawsuit that the party warned it would pursue on grounds that FCIB had breached confidentiality rules.
The PNP was also pushing for criminal charges to be laid against the bank staffer who allegedly leaked the information to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), that it had received $31 million from Dutch oil trader, Trafigura.
Bank spokespersons were tightlipped about both developments but Colin Campbell, the PNP general-secretary last night confirmed that the discussions, under which the party was seeking compensation in exchange for not going to court, had been held and that no settlement was reached, although the talks were fruitful.
“The talks will continue on Monday, at which time we hope to reach an agreement,” Campbell said, adding that a public statement on the matter was being worked on between both parties.
In the meantime, Observer sources said, Christie, wife of the deputy mayor of Falmouth, Fitz Christie, had been sent on three-days leave by FCIB, while the investigations were underway.
But the source said it was not clear whether Christie was being blamed for the leak or whether she was being held accountable as head of the section from which the leak came.
The FCIB executive has extensive experience in international banking and acts as a sort of watchdog for the bank in matters such as money laundering and risk management.
“She is highly regarded for her work and was the person called upon to hold money laundering seminars for the staff,” the source said.
Christie is said to be an activist for the JLP and is credited with helping Pearnel Charles to win his Clarendon seat in the 2002 general elections. The source said she is also related to Lorna Golding, wife of Opposition Leader Bruce Golding.
Golding set the cat among the pigeons Tuesday when he revealed that the PNP had financed its September annual conference with $31 million received from Trafigura, which sells Nigerian crude for Jamaica.
The PNP maintains that it has done nothing illegal and the money was a legitimate gift from Trafigura.
But human rights watchdog, Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), yesterday raised several questions about the deposit of millions of dollars to an account called CCOC.
JFJ wanted to know what the terms and conditions of the Trafigura contract are; how it was awarded; why no external audits had been done over the last five years; how much money Trafigura made on the contract vis a vis how much money Jamaica made; and why the contract was renewed annually and without tender for the last five years?
“Based on the figures in the public domain, Trafigura’s deposit to CCOC Association was for a sum which was more than twice what Jamaica earned from the contract in the lift year to April 2006. Why was such a disproportionately large sum deposited in this obscure account at a time when the Trafigura contract was up for renewal?
“.Should we be concerned that senior leaders of government appear unaware of the distinction between ethically wrong and illegal conduct? Are they blind to the questionable ethical appearance of this deposit and the way it was handled?”
Jamaicans for Justice said the discussions around the revelations also highlighted a number of related issues which must be dealt with separately. Among these, it said, was the need for “Whistleblower legislation” to protect those who act in the public interest, but who in doing so, may be in breach of rules against disclosure whether in the private or public sector.
Paul Henry contributed to this story