Petrojam Fraud Trial | Bahado-Singh missed London trip due to urgent meeting - Lawyer

The lawyer representing former Petrojam board chair Dr Perceval Bahado-Singh this morning sought to establish that he missed a 2018 London business trip because of an urgent meeting.

The court was told that the meeting, called by the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, was with regards to a tender for insurance valued at millions of US dollars for Petrojam.

The meeting arose out of an investigation carried out by the then Office of the Contractor General into the tender process.

Bert Samuels made the assertion while questioning Safety, Environment Quality Assurance, and Security Manager at Petrojam Lloyd Jarrett as the fraud trial against Bahado-Singh and former general manager Floyd Grindley continued in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.

Jarrett, who had testified yesterday that he did not see Bahado-Singh in London although he was told to look out for him, denied being made aware that the former board chair was going to be absent.

"I was not aware, I was never told," he said when Samuels suggested to him that he was informed that Bahado-Singh had been pulled into a meeting with the ministry.

The one-week trip (February 25 to March 3) is among a batch of the overseas expeditions the prosecution is alleging that Bahado-Singh made claims for but did not attend.

He and Grindley are being tried on several fraud-related charges stemming from allegations that Bahado-Singh had submitted claims amounting to US$73,620 between December 2016 and May 2018 for overseas travel he did not make.

Grindley is alleged to have aided and abetted the ex-chairman in the process used to make the fraudulent claims.

Yesterday, Jarrett testified that Bahado-Singh had missed a London trip, which he was scheduled to join, after Grindley had pulled out.

The witness also testified that Bahado-Singh, who was initially not named among the delegation, later emailed him and notified him that he was coming but never showed.

Jarrett said he was also informed by Grindley that Bahado-Singh would be attending.

He also testified that he was told by his assistant to make a reservation at the hotel where he was staying for Bahado-Singh.

While admitting that he was not aware of last-minute plans for Bahado-Singh to be involved in the meeting with the ministry, he said he was, however, informed that Grindley had to cancel the trip because of intense discussions he was having with the ministry surrounding a situation with a local insurance tender concerning millions of US dollars.

The purpose of the London trip was to meet with overseas insurance brokers and would include settling outstanding claims and the execution of an annual risk survey.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.