May 7 start date for judicial review submissions in Reid, Pinnock matter
Published:Tuesday | April 4, 2023 | 1:22 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
The Supreme Court has scheduled a May 7 date to start rehearing submissions in the judicial review hearing involving former Education Minister Ruel Reid and former Caribbean Maritime University President Fritz Pinnock.
Both accused are seeking the High Court’s intervention to review Chief Parish Judge Chester Crooks’ ruling that they and their co-accused had a case to answer in a multimillion-dollar fraud matter.
Reid, his wife Sharen, their daughter Sharelle, along with Pinnock and Jamaica Labour Party Councillor Kim Brown Lawrence, are facing fraud and corruption charges involving nearly $50 million allegedly diverted from the Ministry of Education and CMU for their personal use.
Chief Parish Judge Crooks had ruled in February 2021 that the accused should all be tried.
The judge’s ruling was in response to a preliminary objection raised by Reid and Pinnock on the basis that the charges against them should be nullified as the Financial Investigations Division (FID), which levelled the charges, had no authority in law to arrest or charge them.
But Reid and Pinnock took issue with the decision after Crooks declared that he was recusing himself from the trial because of a perceived conflict of interest. They then sought a judicial review.
It was later revealed that the conflict was in relation to the judge’s attendance at Munro College while Reid was head boy.
The judicial hearing review was subsequently heard on February 7 and 8 this year.
However, FID’s lawyer, Richard Small, on Monday morning informed the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court that the hearing, which was held before a single judge, should have been heard in the Full Court before a three-judge panel, hence the new date.
As a result, a July 12 date was scheduled for the case to be mentioned in the parish court.
The five accused all appeared in court and had their extended.
They have been charged with a range of offences, including breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act, conspiracy to defraud, misconduct in a public office at common law, and breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act.