Corruption case opens against TCI’s former leader

Michael Misick, former premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands

(CNS): The trial of Michael Misick, the former premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and eight other defendants began Monday, as the crown opened the case against them for corruption charges that date back 13 years. The prosecution claims that Misick and others were immersed in corrupt land dealings with developers that netted millions of dollars for politicians as a result of a policy originally designed to benefit local people and give them fair access to land.

“What that policy was not designed to do was to give to the favoured few, family, friends and fellow party supporters a financial reward for doing nothing other than being the named purchaser of land, which was in reality being immediately sold to someone else at a significant profit,” said Andrew Mitchell QC, as he opened the case for the TCI prosecutors.

The lawyer said the defendants undermined, ignored and usurped almost all of the TCI’s institutions designed to ensure and preserve good governance.

“Instead, Michael Misick sought to influence developers as to whom they should work with, rejecting the developers’ choice of Belonger partner and proposing his nominated choices of Belonger. He sought money from developers at every opportunity, even threatening to revoke Belongership if he was not paid what he claimed to be owed.”

Belonger is the term used to describe local people from TCI who have full legal status or citizenship rights. The policy that the crown claims was manipulated by Misick and his political colleagues in the Progressive National Party was meant to provide long-term benefits to Belongers by increasing their role in commercial land development and helping them gain access for residential use.

But the dodgy deals involving crown land so deeply discounted the value of the property and undermined government revenue it led to the collapse of public finances and the eventual UK bail out, triggering a commission of enquiry in 2008 and the imposition of British rule.

Mitchell told the court that evidence would show that each defendant was “enriched beyond the wildest dreams that a politician should have” through the scheme, and he implied that the attorneys involved in the deals made structured payments to benefit the political defendants and for their own gain.

“They were, and there is no beating about the bush as far as this is concerned, acting, in effect, as private bankers for the politician defendants by receiving corrupt monies,” he said. “They became a very simple entry and exit point for criminal funds to avoid banking oversight.”

Mitchell said the crown’s case was plain. “The defendants treated the Treasury as their own personal Treasury, their attorneys as their own private bankers and their political party bank account as their own private reserve. The politician defendants abused their power, sought and obtained substantial personal financial gain.”

He said that throughout Misick’s premiership, the procedure for granting crown land was abused and deeply politicized. The best land was given to politicians in the PNP, their family or close friends and associates and then flipped for massive profit.

“There was flagrant and criminal disregard,” he added of a policy designed for the many and not for a few insiders and some 6,000 genuine Belonger applications were unanswered over the years of Misick’s time in office.

The case continues.