Ross Sheil and Edmond Campbell, Staff Reporters

Documents showing income tax liabilities of Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, stamped by the Inland Revenue Department in Old Harbour, St. Catherine, were leaked to The Gleaner yesterday.

Verified as genuine by Mr. Golding's accountant, Victor Hamilton, the documents, signed by him, acknowledge the indebtedness of Mr. Golding of $1,007,856 as of May 3, 2004, for the years 1998-2002. The accountant said the money had been fully settled. Mr. Hamilton said the liabilities related to taxes owed by Mr. Golding's bakery in Old Harbour.

He said the final payment of $346,070 on January 18, 2005, overpaid by $48,000, Mr. Golding's debt. He produced receipts for three instalments but given the short notice of the reporters' visit, he was unable to produce documentation to support the final payment.

"Well, I don't need to question what possible source this is coming from ... Evidently they are prepared to go and delve into persons' tax liabilities. That is very interesting!" said Mr. Golding speaking on Mr. Hamilton's office telephone. The Jamaica Labour Party leader himself revealed in Gordon House last week bank documents showing the $31 million 'gift' from Dutch oil company Trafigura Beheer to the People's National Party (PNP). That revelation has embarrassed the Government and set off a firestorm. One minister has resigned in the wake of the scandal and Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is yet to comment on the matter.

Mr. Golding declined to speculate upon the source of the leak but said that he would carry out investigations.

Alarmed

"I'm astonished," said his accountant, noting that having practised for the last 30 years, such a leak was in his view, unprecedented. "This is a very serious matter; this is a personal matter between the individual and the commissioner of the Inland Revenue Department."

Interviewed shortly after at his downtown King Street office, Inland Revenue Deputy Commissioner Padan E. Manning expressed concern that the leak might have come from his department but said it was too early for the documents to be verified or for further comment.

The bank documents produced by Mr. Golding at Gordon House last week Tuesday were cheques drawn on FirstCaribbean International Bank showing transactions with CCOC Associates, linked to Mr. Campbell and the PNP.

In a statement yesterday, FirstCaribbean denied that it had fired an employee and that the leak had come from the bank. "FirstCaribbean has not, at this point, accepted any responsibility for any alleged breach of customer confidentiality," the statement said.