Email chain implies major bid manipulation

Canover Watson and his lawyer, Ben Tonner

(CNS): Constant email communication between Jeffrey Webb, the former CIFA and CONCACAF Vice President, and Canover Watson in the runup to the awarding of the hospital CarePay contract to AIS (Cayman) Ltd demonstrated that Watson, the HSA chair at the time, was deeply involved in the tendering process “at both sides”, the jury heard Tuesday as the crown continued setting out is corruption case against Watson and former personal assistant, Miriam Rodrigues. The prosecutor said Watson was so keen to ensure AIS got the bid it was surprising “he could keep a straight face” during meetings of the technical committee created to evaluate the bid. 

Having suggested the introduction of an electronic payment system in the first place, Watson created and chaired the technical committee, wrote the request for proposals (RFP) and controlled the bidding process. Watson, the crown said, manipulated the entire tendering of the CarePay system for his own ends.

Patrick Moran, the deputy director of public prosecutions, spent another full day Tuesday taking the jury through an array of complex email chains about the bid, the contracts, other companies linked to Watson and Webb and various other business partners, which all pointed to Watson’s interest in AIS.

The manipulation of the tendering and contract led to significant financial gain for himself and Webb, his long-term friend and close business partner in numerous ventures. Moran told the jury that by the time the CarePay system hit the ropes because of numerous technical troubles, Watson and Webb were enjoying the profits of that manipulation and busy buying themselves new homes in the United States.

AIS won the bid after what the crown said was an entirely manipulated process, in which set-up costs were also hiked by half a million dollars and the transaction costs increased by some 33% — an increase that crown said was down to Watson. Twenty-four hours after Watson had been sent, through Webb, a copy of the proposed bid suggested by the AIS team in Jamaica, a document was submitted that was considerably more costly, Moran said.

“It is our case that the inflation of these fees was entirely dishonest and served no purpose other than to line the pockets of those who stood to benefit for the award of this contract,” he told the jury, as he pointed to the “remarkable uplift of the fees” on the proposal only after the draft had been sent to Watson for his input.

As Moran slowly detailed the chain of events for the jury through another day of setting the scene for the evidence and witnesses the crown will call, the paper trail left by Watson and Webb became increasingly complex. It was clear, however, that Watson was copied in on email communication and documents during the evaluation process and contract negotiations, including the AIS draft bid ahead of the delivery to the Central Tenders Committee.

When the sealed envelopes were opened before the CTC, Watson, who was there to represent the technical committee, was already more than familiar with the content of the AIS bid, Moran said.

Watson was described as aggressively pitching for AIS in the technical committee meetings, which he led, and he also appeared to be involved in directly assisting the Jamaican team and Jeffrey Webb with information about rival bidders, helping them ahead of their presentations to the committee, the references, survey questions and more, ensuring that AIS was getting “real time updates” though Webb so that the company would be in pole position to win.

Watson even forwarded to Webb very sensitive internal emails about the problems predicted by the HSA information technology manager about how the hospital would handle the transition challenges.

The prosecution claims that Watson created AIS (Cayman) Ltd, the company that would eventually be the name on the manipulated contract. The crown revealed that its official directors were Doug Halsall, the AIS Jamaica boss, Eldon Rankin, Jeffrey Webb’s step father who owned a building company, and Joscelyn Morgan, a bookkeeper for Kirk Autos, none of whom were signatories on the Fidelity bank account created for the firm, which was opened by Watson but controlled entirely by Webb.

Fax numbers, email address and other contact details for AIS Cayman Ltd all led back to either Watson or Webb, and addresses from their other complex web of businesses were used for the firm’s company meetings. Moran told the jury that Morgan and Eldon were merely “sham” directors to cover up that the company was completely controlled by Watson and Webb.

Moran said it was Watson, chair of the Health Services Authority Board, who was the man who collected and then physically paid into that Fidelity AIS bank account the first payment of more than $680,000 from the hospital and CINICO, days after the contract was signed in December 2010.

The case continues in court five at 10:30am Wednesday.