QUINTON HALL TO PAY $100,000 IN SIPT SETTLEMENT The Turks and Caicos Islands Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT) has released the details of their settlement with Quinton Hall. In a press release issued through Governor’s spokesman Neil Smith, the SIPT said that on Wednesday, 16th January 2014, by an application to the court by the SIPT, criminal proceedings against Quinton Albert Hall were dismissed. “At the same time Mr Hall agreed with the acting Attorney General, as the Civil Recovery Authority for the Islands, to settle proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Ordinance, by paying the sum of $95,000, plus $5,000 in costs to the Turks and Caicos Islands Government,” the release said. The SIPT previously dropped charges against foreign developers Mario Hoffman and Jak Civre, as well as local businessman and former Cabinet minister Samuel Been. On July 17th, 2012, TCIG, Mario Hoffmann and the Salt Cay Development Companies announced the settlement of all claims and proceedings between them and SIPT, in which $7million was paid to Government and 1,506 acres of land on Salt Cay which Hoffman owned were transferred back to Government. Hoffman also gave up his Belonger status. In his settlement, Italian businessman Jak Civre paid US$4.7million plus US$250,000 in legal costs. Criminal charges were also dropped against businessman and former Cabinet minister Samuel “Sammy” Been after he reached an agreement with SIPT and the Attorney General’s Chambers to give up a portion of his commercial building, the Sammy Been Plaza, on Airport Road, Providenciales. The value of the settlement is approximately $875,000, which included $50,000 in legal costs. SIPT’s settlement of criminal charges against select individuals came under strong criticism last year from a CARICOM Ministerial Fact-Finding Mission led by Fred Mitchell, The Bahamas’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, when they visited Turks and Caicos Islands between June 24th to 26th, 2013. The CARICOM team stated in a report that was presented to the Heads of Government Summit in Trinidad and Tobago last August, that “another common narrative in the Turks and Caicos Islands which bears examination is that the justice being administered by the SIPT has cost the people of the TCI some $46million with no end in sight” and that only islanders are facing criminal charges and jail time when non-islanders have been able to purchase justice. According to the CARICOM report: The greatest concerns were expressed over the operation s of the agencies put in place to investigate and prosecute the findings of corruption and wrong doing arising from the Commission of Enquiry and to recover ill-got ten monies and property-the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT) and the Civil Recovery Unit (CRU).
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 16:24:20 +0000
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