‘I don’t know’

Businessman Norton Hinds helped to set up the political fundraising entity that was used to funnel a controversial $31-million donation to the People’s National Party (PNP), but knew very little about its operations, according to his evidence.

The evidence came during a near-two-hour grilling in the Supreme Court on Monday, 16 years after the Dutch firm Trafigura Beheer wired 466,000 euros into an account operated by CCOC Association, setting off a political firestorm that would become known as the Trafigura scandal.

Authorities in the Netherlands are investigating whether the payment broke any criminal laws there.

At the time of the 2006 payment, Trafigura had an oil-lifting contract with the Jamaican Government, formed by the Portia Simpson Miller-led PNP, which expired the previous year.

But Trafigura continued to lift oil for Jamaica in 2006 under an interim arrangement that was in place, although the then National Contracts Commission had recommended that the new contract be awarded to Glencore Energy UK Limited, the company that emerged as the winning bidder.

Dutch investigators, as part of their probe, sent dozens of questions to Jamaican authorities from as far back as 2007 for Hinds, former Prime Minister and PNP President Simpson Miller, Kingston Eastern and Port Royal Member of Parliament Phillip Paulwell, former PNP Chairman Robert Pickersgill, and former PNP General Secretary Colin Campbell to answer under oath.

Hinds was the first to take the witness stand on Monday. He acknowledged that CCOC Association – Colin Campbell Our Candidate – was formed by a group of supporters to raise funds for the former PNP general secretary’s campaign.

He confirmed, too, that it was his initiative to open an account for the entity at FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) in 1991 and that he and Campbell were among four signatories on the account.

But following that disclosure, the businessman said he knew very little about the operations of the account, answering more than two dozen questions with either “I don’t know” or “I am not aware”.

Hinds gave evidence, for example, that he was not aware of three wire transfers, each for just over $10 million, which Trafigura made to the CCOC Association account on September 6 and 12, 2006, or how the Dutch firm obtained the entity’s banking details.

“Can you tell us, why did Trafigura pay this money to CCOC Association?” Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Andrea Martin Swaby questioned.

“I would not have known about this since I was not monitoring this account at that time because I neither saw the deposits or withdrawals from it since 1994,” Hinds responded.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is the designated Central Authority in cases such as this that fall under the Mutual Assistance (Criminal Matter) Act.

“Can you say who would have informed Trafigura Beheer of the account of CCOC Association?” Martin Swaby pressed.

“I do not know,” Hinds replied

The businessman gave evidence that “there was no one with any specific task” at CCOC Association and that there was no one with responsibility for record-keeping.

“So, who had records of CCOC Association at his or her disposal?” Martin Swaby questioned.

“No one,” Hinds responded.

Martin Swaby also questioned Hinds about statements made by Simpson Miller on March 20, 2007, indicating that the “contribution” was facilitated by documents the Dutch firm had signed with CCOC Association.

Simpson Miller, who was responding to questions raised by then Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, described the documents as a service or consultancy agreement whereby CCOC Association would carry out a study of the bauxite industry.

“If a donation was made to the PNP that has been made possible by documents described as a service agreement or consultancy agreement…why was it then decided to pay the money back to Trafigura,” Martin Swaby asked.

“I am not aware of the circumstances stated. I do not know,” Hinds said.

The PNP has reported that the donation was returned to Trafigura.

The senior prosecutor also questioned Hinds about an entity named SW Services and its relationship with CCOC Association, but he gave similar answers.

“I don’t know anything about SW Services,” he insisted.

Further, Hinds said he did not know who transferred a total of $30 million from CCOC Association via cheques made out to SW Services/TeamJamaica.

Paulwell also took the witness stand and gave evidence that the first time he heard about CCOC Association and the $31-million payment was when Golding first disclosed the payment in the House of Representatives in 2007.

“Before this matter, I did not know of these transfers,” Paulwell said.

He repeated that answer when the senior prosecutor asked why Trafigura transferred the money to CCOC Association and why the payments were wired from the United Kingdom.

Paulwell will continue giving evidence when the hearing resumes today.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com