By Vernon Daley, Staff Reporter
Thwaites
ADRIAN STRACHAN, the Auditor-General, says he has found no evidence that Ronald Thwaites, attorney-at-law, Roman Catholic Deacon, and former MP for Central Kingston, attempted to defraud the Post and Telecommunications Department of millions of dollars.
In July last year Mr. Strachan was called in to audit
all the operations of the postal services, after a public controversy, which sprang from reports that Mr. Thwaites had lodged a $5-million cheque for the Post and Telecommunications Department, to his company's account.
Mr. Strachan told The Gleaner that the audit was completed several months ago and the findings submitted toDr. Blossom O'Meally-Nelson, the Postmaster-General, and Dr. Jean Dixon, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology.
"There is no evidence based on what we saw that fraud was involved," Mr. Strachan said. "But obviously errors were made by the lawyer (Mr. Thwaites) in how the thing was lodged."
Mr. Strachan added that there was also bungling on the part of the bank, given the fact that the cheque, which was payable to the Post and Telecommunications Department, was credited to Mr. Thwaites's company's account. He, however, did not name the bank involved.
Although he refused to give details on the findings of the audit, the Auditor-General said his report essentially confirmed most of the information which came out during public discussion of the issue.
When The Gleaner attempted to get a comment from Mrs. O'Meally-Nelson yesterday, she delivered a message, through her secretary, that the matter should be raised with Dr. Dixon.
The Permanent Secretary, however, was not in office yesterday and The Gleaner was told that she would not be in until tomorrow.
Mr. Thwaites found himself in deep controversy last year after political pollster Mark Wignall wrote in a column in The Observer newspaper that a senior PNP official had fraudulently converted $5 million collected by his law firm on behalf of the postal services.
The columnist also claimed that the lawyer had used property belonging to the Roman Catholic Church to secure a personal loan.
Although he was not named in the column, Mr. Thwaites appeared on the Nationwide news programme on Power 106 radio station on June 27 to defend himself. He admitted the $5 million was deposited to his company but said this was done in error. He said the money was paid back in two instalments. Mr. Thwaites said he had offered to pay interest on the money but his offer was declined.
He subsequently resigned as MP for Central Kingston as other allegations of financial impropriety arose.
Mr. Thwaites could not be reached for comment up to press time last night. However, he has consistently maintained his innocence. In an interview with The Gleaner last year he said: "I had indicated that the cheque in question was one of several I had collected and that I regretted they were ever deposited in my account. Allegations have been made that I have stolen money from the post office, among other things. I have not done these things that I am being accused of... I haven't stolen anything from anyone."
