The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Court Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

SITTING Member of Parliament for Long Island Adrian Gibson and six others were arraigned in a Magistrate’s Court Monday on corruption charges in connection with his tenure as executive chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation under the Minnis administration.

MP Adrian Gibson, 37, himself a lawyer, was represented by Attorney Ellsworth Johnson. He was before Assistant Chief Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans to face 56 charges.

While Mr Gibson faced 31 of his 56 charges alone, he along with the remaining six accused, faced a combined 101 charges.

Three of the other accused stood before the court in connection with this incident and their relations with Mr Gibson. They were Elwood Donaldson Jr, 54, WSC’s former general manager, Gibson’s cousin, Rashae Gibson 28, as well as his campaign general, Joan Knowles, 56.

The remaining three defendants were Jerome Missick, 54, Tonya Demeritte, 43, and Peaches Farquharson, 39.

These charges, which range from false declaration, bribery, fraud, receiving and money laundering allegedly stem from Gibson’s failure to declare his interest in contracts awarded by the WSC.

Mr Gibson is alleged to have illicitly gained more than $1m from contracts granted to Elite Maintenance and Baha Bay. It is alleged that he gained a financial advantage of a collective $1,279,532.97 after he received a variety of payments in cheques and wire transfers.

This money was then allegedly laundered through the purchase of properties and vehicles, including those used in Gibson’s Rental Company in Long Island.

Gibson, along with his co-accused, was not required to plead to the charges as the case will proceed by way of Voluntary Bill of Indictment (VBI).

The accused were also informed that their case would be heard in the Supreme Court.

While bail was granted to all seven defendants, with Mr Gibson’s set at $150,000 with one or two sureties, they were all remanded into custody until their bail is signed.

Under the conditions of their bail they are required to sign in at the nearest police station every Friday by 7pm, with Mr Gibson required to sign at the Nassau Street Station.

As MP Gibson failed to post bail at the time, he was forced to spend the night in custody.

Service of the defendants Voluntary Bill of Indictment is expected on September 14.

• This story has been corrected to say that Adrian Gibson faced 31 of his 56 charges alone and that he, along with the remaining six accused faced a combined 101 charges.