- Grenada Gov’t demands former senator pays outstanding telephone bill
The Grenada government Monday said it intends to pursue civil and criminal proceedings against a former government minister who racked up a telephone bill of more than EC$100,000 (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) during the period of July 2016 to July 2019.
Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Claudette Joseph, told a news conference that the matter against Sheldon Scott, who served as a senator from 2013 to 2016, is being pursued because he failed to stop using a mobile telephone that was issued to him in his capacity as Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister following the 2013 general elections.
“On demitting office, without authorisation or permission, and in breach of the conditions under which the mobile phone was issued, Mr Scott retained it and unlawfully used it for his personal or other purposes.
“During such unauthorised use, the government continued to pay the service provider, Digicel, for all charges incurred. This state of affairs continued until July 2019 when the matter was brought to the public domain,” Joseph told reporters.
That matter came into the public domain after Kem Jones, a political talk show host, who is known to be associated with ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) said on his radio programme in 2019 that the number used by Scott showed that for the months of April to June 2019 he incurred almost EC$70,000 in charges.
An investigation conducted by the telecommunications providers, noted that it can safely conclude and publicly state that the leak of the government associate’s bill did not originate from within the operations of Digicel Grenada Ltd.
“When the allegations arose, we made it a priority to conduct an internal audit in order to establish the facts, ensure that there was no breach of information on our part and confirm that we did everything possible to protect the confidentiality of our customers. Our customers can continue to rely on us and to trust that we will treat their personal information with the strictest confidence,” the company said in a statement then.
Scott in a statement after the scandal broke accepted full liability and responsibility for all charges incurred on the number that was assigned to him and promised to repay. However, Joseph told reporters on Monday that no payment was made to the government.
“Despite the admissions and undertaking cited…the record shows that to date he made no repayment to the government of Grenada. The sum in unauthorized charges unlawfully incurred by you, and paid by government between July 3, 2016, and July 2, 2019, is EC$115,393.32” said Joseph, noting that the records at all government ministries show no evidence of repayment.
Last weekend, Scott was served with a pre-action protocol letter giving him seven days to work out a formula for a 90 day repayment plan.
“On behalf of the Government of Grenada we hereby DEMAND that within 90 days of receipt by you of this letter, you pay into the Treasury of Grenada, with due notice to the office of the Attorney General, the sum of EC$115,393.32 together with interest in the sum of EC$41,544.30, for a total of EC$156,937.62,” said Joseph, reading from the document.
Besides the demand notice, Joseph said that the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) had conducted an investigation and the findings have been sent to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for its criminal determination.
