Some 92 witnesses are expected to give evidence in the J$25 million fraud case against former government minister Ruel Reid and his co-accused when the trial gets underway in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Thursday (October 16).

On Monday, parish court judge Sanchia Burrell ruled that the trial must move forward, granting an order of indictment.

However, attorney Hugh Wildman had objected to the granting of the order in his opening statement, claiming that the prosecution was relying on statements that were illegally obtained, to which agreement was reached with the rest of the defence lawyers in the case.

In response on Monday, the prosecution put forward in court that Wildman’s objection to the order was premature, given that matters of admissibility of statements must be dealt with during the actual trial stage.

Wildman counterargued that the Financial Investigations Division (FID) Act contains a clause which prohibits its authorised agents and FID officers from sharing information gathered, and that such officers do not have the power to arrest or charge anyone, which, in the case of the accused, is what happened.

The crown agreed with Wildman that the FID has investigative powers only, but maintained that members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) who were designated authorised officers of the FID, also retained the powers granted to them under the Constabulary Force Act, including powers of arrest.

For her part, lead prosecutor Ashtelle Steele told the court that the helper, hired to work in the Reid household, had no idea she was on the ministry’s payroll. The prosecution alleges that Reid, his wife Sharen, and daughter Sharelle arranged for her to be paid through the ministry. The family reportedly helped her open a bank account and retained control of her ATM card to access the funds.

Steele said the Crown intends to present evidence that this was part of a broader scheme through which Reid, his family, Pinnock, and Jamaica Labour Party Councillor Kim Brown Lawrence conspired with others to defraud the Ministry of Education and the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU).

“The Crown will seek to show how the accused, particularly Mr Reid and Pinnock, used their roles as public servants to mastermind and effect the fraudulent activities for which they are before the court,” Steele said.

“The Crown will seek to lead the following, to include but not limited to the following: the position of all of these persons, and their roles; individuals being paid regularly by CMU, with these individuals not knowing that they were being paid by CMU; invoices or vouchers of goods and services being generated under circumstances where individuals being paid did not generate same, and that they did not at any time provide these goods and services,” she said.

Furthermore, no verification checks were carried out before funds were disbursed, the court heard.