JLP Senator Marlon Morgan is describing President of the PNP Mark Golding’s assertion that his Region 3 Chairman Dennis Gordon’s company JACDEN broke no law in the unfolding UHWI tax exemption scandal, as a slap in the face of every Jamaican taxpayer. 

 Senator Morgan blasted PNP leader Mark Golding, writing: “On Sunday, following months of sustained pressure, the PNP President put out a belated statement to the media on the Dennis Gordon/JACDEN UHWI tax exemption scandal and twice asserted that from his perspective, no law was broken by Gordon or JACDEN. 

“By Dennis Gordon’s own admission in a recent article which was published in the public domain, over many years some entities have used UHWI’s tax exemption status in order not to pay taxes that they would have otherwise been required to pay on equipment and other items which have been imported on their behalf.

“It is common knowledge, as was confirmed by the Auditor General, that the use of another entity’s tax -exempt status to evade paying taxes is unlawful and inappropriate. Possible breaches of the tax laws, the Proceeds of Crime Act and the Customs Act are relevant. For the PNP President, who is a senior attorney-at-law, to state in those circumstances that he is not aware of any law being broken is to deliver a perverse slap in the face of all well-thinking Jamaicans.

“ Golding’s approach to this scandal, which has engulfed his Region 3 Chairman, has shattered any credibility which he professed to have in treating with matters of probity, transparency, and accountability.”

Senator Morgan noted that it is a matter of public record that investigations by law enforcement agencies are taking place in respect of not only dialysis machines which Mr. Gordon company used UHWI’s tax-exempt status to import, but also J$30 million worth of furniture which UHWI used its tax exemption status to import, but the items were reportedly transported immediately to the premises of JACDEN.

Senator Morgan continued: “To make matters worse, Dennis Gordon’s utterances in the print media, where he appears to suggest that the unlawful practice of using another entity’s tax exemption status to import items and evade paying relevant taxes is normal and ‘no big deal’, confirm that he is unsuited to be a lawmaker.  Gordon’s move to step down as a member of the Public Accounts Committee and as a Shadow Cabinet member, after sustained pressure mounted, is not enough.

“His appalling, arrogant and contemptuous approach to these fundamental issues of governance and probity reconfirms that his position as a lawmaker is grossly untenable.”