Watson and Rodrigues face new charges

Canover Watson and his lawyer, Ben Tonner

(CNS): The additional charges against Canover Watson and his former PA, Miriam Rodrigues, in the hospital CarePay case were transmitted to the Grand Court Tuesday morning when the pair appeared in Summary Court to face the new counts in the corruption case. The charges against both Watson and Rodrigues were revealed on Friday by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which also revealed charges against Cayman’s former football boss, Jeffrey Webb.

Watson and Rodrigues said nothing this morning as they stood in the dock before Magistrate Grace Donalds. The case was adjourned until Friday 17 July, when the defendants were bailed to appear in the Grand Court on the same terms and conditions.

Both Watson and Rodrigues are already scheduled to stand trial in November and the new charges are expected to be joined to the existing counts. The pair are charged with a range of offences, from money laundering to breach of trust, in connection with an $11 million hospital contract regarding a card payment system.

Miriam Rodriguez

However, there was no mention in court of the charges against Webb, who remains in jail in Switzerland along with six of his football colleagues, all of whom have been charged in connection with the massive FIFA corruption probe by the US. The official extradition request was made by the American authorities last Thursday and Webb is understood to be fighting his removal from Zurich to New York, where the indictment against him and numerous other FIFA officials and sports executives has been filed.

Prosecutors from the Cayman Islands are now also going through the process of an extradition request to the Swiss government in connection with the charges against Webb in the CarePay investigation. It is not clear what will happen regarding the Cayman request, given that the US has already made its extradition application and the Swiss authorities have given Webb and the other detained officials time to prepare for a hearing.

Webb faces four charges in the CarePay case, including two counts of conspiracy to defraud, a count of breach of trust and one of conspiracy to convert criminal property. However, neither anti-corruption officials nor local prosecutors have revealed the details of the charges against Webb, who, although believed to be connected to one of the companies that secured the lucrative hospital contract, was not at the time a government official.