The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A KEY prosecution witness denied that she double-crossed and tricked Adrian Gibson and the Water and Sewerage Corporation into believing she was acting on behalf of clients.

Alexandria Mackey, Gibson’s former fiancée, gave the evidence on Friday under cross-examination by defence attorney Damian Gomez, KC, in the ongoing trial over Water and Sewerage Corporation contracts awarded during Gibson’s tenure as the corporation’s executive chairman.

Mr Gomez’s line of questioning focused on contracts issued to Elite Maintenance and her dealings with Tanya Demeritte, one of the company’s shareholders and a witness in the case.

Mr Gomez said: “I put it to you, you were dishonest in your dealings with Tanya Demeritte at the point where she got a criminal record while you walked away scot free.”

The witness denied the claim.

The defence attorney also put it to her that she was dishonest and that, if she had not double-crossed Rashae Gibson, Gibson’s cousin, Rashae would not have retaliated by removing funds.

Ms Mackey said Rashae removed the funds because Gibson told her to.

She said there were no formal written resolutions authorising Elite Maintenance’s expenditures, but maintained that Adrian Gibson could still give instructions to the company because he was its beneficial owner.

However, Ms Mackey agreed that Gibson was not listed as a proprietor on a business licence and acknowledged that, under the Business Licence Act, only those named on a licence are legally recognised as licensees.

The court also heard about a contract between RL Pools and WSC for work on water tanks. The payments included $40,000 for work on one tank and a further $40,000 under a January 8, 2021, subcontract for work on a second tank.

Ms Mackey said she was responsible for the day-to-day operations associated with the Water and Sewerage Corporation tank refurbishment projects.

She said she could not recall the precise details of RL Pools’ quote, which was approximately $200,000 per tank.

She also testified that she referred RL Pools owners LaToya and Ron Polacek to Ms Demeritte after discussions about the work.

The court heard that Ms Demeritte later requested changes to Elite Maintenance’s business licence and, according to corporate documents, took over 50 percent of the shares as of late 2019.

Ms Mackey confirmed that Ms Demeritte signed the subcontract for the tank works. However, she said she directed project matters involving the tanks and handled the day-to-day work.

When Mr Gomez put it to Ms Mackey that Gibson never met the Polaceks in person, she said Gibson knew who they were.

Ms Mackey denied that she and Ms Demeritte were attempting to establish their own car rental business, Kingdom Car Rental.

According to Ms Mackey, Ms Demeritte also signed for the car payments for SID MAC Rentals.

The court further heard that five vans were purchased and imported, but Gibson’s name was never on the bill of sale or title transfer.

Ms Mackey acknowledged that she never saw Gibson sign the bills of transfer for the vehicles and said the transfer documents were among the records she turned over to police after her arrest.

She also said she was not Gibson’s attorney, although she had performed legal work for him and some of his family members.

The court also heard reference to a truck that Ms Mackey led police to by phone while she was in front of her parents’ home.