30-day ultimatum

The foundation operated by Jamaican international music star Shaggy has not filed mandatory audited financial statements for the last two years, placing itself in danger of being stripped of its charity status, the agency that regulates charitable organisations in the island has revealed.

In fact, the Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation (SMADF) is not currently registered as a charity organisation, having failed, up to last Friday, to renew its registration, which expired on February 17 this year, the Department of Cooperatives and Friendly Societies (DCFS) has confirmed.

The DCFS is the agency that oversees Jamaica’s Charity Act, through which registered charitable organisations get tax breaks and other benefits.

The regulatory agency said that the SMADF missed two deadlines last year and one this year to file annual returns, including audited financial statements, for the last two calendar years and signalled that it was ready to get tough.

The Shaggy foundation is run by the Grammy-winning entertainer, whose real name is Orville Burrell, and his wife Rebecca Packer.

“I have given instructions for them to be issued with a notice that if after 30 days they don’t file, then we are going to revoke the [charity] status,” warned Errol Gallimore, registrar of the DCFS, during a Sunday Gleaner interview on Thursday.

“That’s the next step.”

The absence of the financial records has left the regulator in the dark about all funds being held by SMADF, including the controversial $100 million raised by the charity in 2018 through a benefit concert that featured other international recording superstars such as Sting and Wyclef Jean.

The money was earmarked for the acquisition of beds for the intensive care unit at the Bustamante Hospital for Children (BHC), but has been sitting in an interest-generating bank account for over four years.

“Because they have not filed, I can’t say whether or not it is still there or otherwise,” Gallimore said.

MONEY UNTOUCHED

But chairman of BHC, Kenneth Benjamin, and Sharon Burke, a spokesperson for Shaggy, both insist that the funds are available.

“I know the money is safe and is earning interest. The manager of BNS spoke to us and guaranteed us that the funds are for Bustamante,” said Benjamin, making reference to the Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited.

Burke said the money “is still there untouched”.

However, after giving a commitment to respond to questions about the foundation’s failure to hand over financial statements to the DCFS, calls to Burke’s cell phone went unanswered.

More than 600 charitable organisations are registered in Jamaica, according to figures published by the Companies Office of Jamaica.

Each year, they are required, among other things, to turn over financial and other records to the DCFS by March 31 the following year.

After missing the first reporting deadline for the 2020 calendar year, SMADF requested an extension to August, the DCFS disclosed.

It said the request was granted and the deadline pushed back to September 10, but still the Shaggy foundation failed to comply.

“They made a second request that they be allowed to file by November 5. That second request was denied because we felt that sufficient time was given for them to file for 2020,” Gallimore disclosed.

IMPLICATIONS FOR FUNDS

A revocation of SMADF’s charity status could have implications for the disbursement of the $100-plus million.

Benjamin wants the funds redirected to the proposed construction of another hospital ward and a “three- or four-storey” residential facility at BHC’s St Andrew compound to make life more comfortable for patients and their families, particularly those who travel from rural parishes.

“We know it is inconvenient to the people who come from the country because they don’t have anywhere to stay. Some of the buildings were good for 10 years and that was 30 years ago,” he said, insisting that it remains in good condition because of routine maintenance.

According to Benjamin, a possible repurposing of the funds was suggested to the administrators of the Shaggy foundation, who agreed to “check out” whether it was possible.

Gallimore said no such application has reached his desk.

“I have not seen any request or anything like that on our records,” he said.

Packer had previously poured cold water on the proposed redirecting of the funds, noting that donations were made to the Shaggy & Friends Concert because the proceeds were earmarked for the Bustamante Hospital ICU.

She disclosed, during a Sunday Gleaner interview in May last year, that SMADF has already made it clear to administrators at Bustamante Hospital that using the funds for any other cause would go against the provisions of the Charity Act.

“If you are going to change what it is raised for, you basically have to consult with all the donors, which is pretty much impossible,” she said, before adding that “I stay within the law and if the law says it can’t be spent elsewhere, then it can’t be spent elsewhere.”

The DCFS registrar noted, too, that the Shaggy foundation is a registered limited liability company and said disbursement of the funds would be subjected to its articles of incorporation.

“That is really for them to decide. But generally most of these charities usually have some sort of power and objects which say that they can either return the funds or give it to another charity,” Gallimore said.

SMADF would be required to disclose to the DCFS how the funds will be disbursed if its charity status is revoked after the 30-day ultimatum, the agency said.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com