By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
A SENIOR engineer at the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) who has given testimony harmful to Adrian Gibson and his co-accused admitted police questioned her for suspected fraud last year.
Under cross-examination in court yesterday from Damian Gomez, KC, Mr Gibson’s lawyer, Dedrie Taylor, head of the WSC’s engineering and planning department, confirmed that police interviewed her last April.
Mr Gomez asked the witness if she was arrested on April 25, 2022, and she said no.
When he posed the question again, Mrs Taylor said she had been told that the experience was a procedure to get information.
She claimed she was held at the station for eight hours because the police didn’t have a stenographer and had to write her statement manually.
“So no one touched you and said you were under arrest?” asked Mr Gomez. “And no one said you’re entitled to a lawyer?”
In response, Mrs Taylor denied that police told her she was under arrest, but admitted to being informed of her right to get a lawyer.
Mr Gomez said: “Didn’t they say this to you, ‘you are suspected of fraud? I wish to put some questions to you in relation to this offence. You’re not obliged to answer any of the questions, but if you do, the questions and your answers put to them may be written down and given as evidence?’”
Mrs Taylor said she could not remember what the police told her, though she recalled police asking her if she wanted a lawyer.
Mrs Taylor was then shown a police document.
“Do you see that they have you booked in at 1pm on that date?” Mr Gomez asked her.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Do you see the arresting officer is a woman sergeant?” Mr Gomez asked, to which she replied: “Yes.”
When Mr Gomez asked if she realised they suspected her of fraud, she said yes.
Asked if she was shown the WSC Act during the experience, she said no.
She also admitted that she never read the entire law since being employed at the corporation.
She was also asked about her role in the payment process to contractors.
She said she deals with the initial payment certificates, gets the signatures of relevant people and forwards the documents to the accounts department.
She said she signed off on payments to Elite Maintenance Incorporated and Baha Maintenance.
However, she claimed that the then WSC Deputy General Manager Robert Deal didn’t sign off on any of the payments because he claimed he needed more time to review the documents.
She was then shown job jackets for the water tanks featuring Mr Deal’s signature.
Mr Gomez said: “And you’re saying that he did not sign any of the payment vouchers?”
She replied: “He did not sign any of the payment vouchers.”
When asked how he signed the job jackets, Mrs Taylor said she couldn’t explain.
She will return for continued cross-examination at a later hearing.
Mr Gibson is charged with Mr Donaldson, Jr, Ms Peaches Farquharson, Rashae Gibson, Joan Knowles and Jerome Missick.
Together, the group face 98 charges, including conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, fraud, receiving and money laundering. They have denied all of the allegations.
Mr Gomez, KC, Murrio Ducille, KC, Bryan Bastian, Mr Raphael Moxey, Christina Galanos, Ian Cargill and Donald Saunders represent the defendants.
Meanwhile, Ms Cordell Frazier, Cashena Thompson and Karine MacVean are the Crown’s prosecutors.
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