Hospital corruption case stalled by evidence

Canover Watson

(CNS): The crown has signalled it could be seeking another delay to the trial schedule in the alleged CarePay hospital corruption case due to be heard in November. Canover Watson and Miriam Rodriguez, who are facing a catalogue of charges in the case, appeared in court Friday when Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Patrick Moran said that “new lines of enquiry” and a mass of documentation were making it difficult for prosecutors to guarantee they would be ready in time.

However, lawyers representing Watson and Rodriguez, who have denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty on all charges, pointed out that their clients were very keen to have the case heard as soon as possible. Defence attorney, Ben Tonner, urged the court to set a case management hearing to sort out the issues and prevent further delays because his clients wanted this matter dealt with as quickly as possible. Although on bail, both have lost their jobs since the charges were laid and have their lives on hold, he said.

Watson and Rodriguez were scheduled to go on trial in May to face corruption and money laundering charges in relation to an $11 million government contract for a payment system at the George Town hospital. But one month before the trial date the investigation had turned up a massive amount of new information, which included a trillion bytes of digital data, so the case was postponed until November at the crown’s request.

The case first started with Watson’s arrest in November last year, which was followed later by the arrest of his former personal assistant, Miriam Rodrigues, in February. The trial was delayed before additional charges were brought against the pair as well as the local football boss, Jeffrey Webb.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had indicated it was seeking Webb’s extradition when the suspended CIFA president, who was also a former CONCACAF president and FIFA VP, was on remand in Switzerland. Since then, Webb agreed to the US extradition request and is currently in New York facing charges in the massive international FIFA probe.

There has been no mention since of the crown’s plans in relation to that high profile defendant in the ongoing local case was described by Moran as ”extremely complex”. He said the crown would do everything it could to be ready for November but it could not give a “cast iron guarantee” that all of the evidence would have been examined by that time.