Former RGD boss Charlton McFarlane now compliant with the law - Integrity Commission
Published:Wednesday | May 29, 2024 | 9:39 PM
The Integrity Commission (IC) has indicated that former head of the Registrar General's Department (RGD) Charlton McFarlane is now compliant with the law after he paid fines and submitted outstanding income and assets declarations.
"One of the matters, Charlton McFarlane, has been concluded," Director of Corruption Prosecution Keisha Prince-Kameka told the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee of Parliament at a meeting on Wednesday.
McFarlane was charged for failing to file statutory information by April 13, as required by a notice of the Integrity Commission Act. He incurred a fine of $200,000.
He was also charged with four counts of failing, without reasonable cause, to furnish the commission with a statutory declaration for periods ending December 31, 2022, December 31, 2021, December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019.
Those four charges carried a fine of $50,000 each.
Payment ensured imprisonment was avoided.
McFarlane pleaded guilty to the charges at a hearing in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on April 30.
Prince Kameka told the lawmakers that the outstanding declarations have also been submitted.
The issue came public after the IC submitted a report to Parliament in April in which it recommended the charges against McFarlane.
Opposition legislator Julian Robinson suggested that the IC should issue updates to the Parliament on cases that have been resolved.
"In the court of public opinion, having had that issue over his head, without more, the public wouldn't know that the matter has been resolved. In a case like his, you trade on your reputation, quite frankly. I believe if he has satisfied everything that you have asked of him and he has also dealt with the court matters, I think it is important to indicate," he said.
Committee chairman Edmund Bartlett said: "I totally agree".
McFarlane's tenure as RGD's chief executive officer ended on May 2.
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