IC’s case against Leslie Campbell stalls
Ex-MP said to be overseas for medical reasons
Published:Friday | October 20, 2023 | 12:11 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
The case involving former State Minister of Foreign Affairs Leslie Campbell, who is charged with failing to provide information relating to his statutory declaration, suffered a further delay on Thursday in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court due to his absence.
When the case was mentioned, Campbell’s attorney, Matthew Hyatt, apologised for his client’s no-show, noting that he was overseas for medical reasons. He asked the judge to stay the warrant until October 31, when the case will next be mentioned.
The Integrity Commission’s (IC) director of corruption prosecution, Keisha Prince-Kameka, had recommended in a report to Parliament that Campbell be charged.
Campbell, who tendered his resignation as government senator recently and lost his position as state minister, is facing allegations of breaching the Parliament (Integrity of Members) Act and the Integrity Commission Act. He has, however, requested an urgent review of the decision.
In the report, Director of Investigations Kevon Stephenson said that the commission made 39 requests in writing between 2016 and 2020 for Campbell to provide information to the anti-corruption body, but the former lawmaker only partially complied with the requests.
The IC said that Campbell provided five responses over the period.
The commission said it gave a deadline of December 24, 2021, for Campbell to provide the information requested, but to date, the former Jamaica Labour Party member of parliament has not complied.
The IC said that the outstanding information includes the surrender value for two life insurance policies and the account balance linked to a bank loan.
But Campbell’s attorneys have insisted that he had provided adequate responses to the agency.
“Mr Campbell reported that the Integrity Commission continues to request the surrender value for an insurance policy, Guardian Life Care Plus, which has no surrender value,” the attorneys told The Gleaner in the wake of the report.
The anti-corruption agency had reported Campbell to the leadership of Parliament on February 20, 2017, for non-compliance with the requests.