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Former Premier of the  Turks & Caicos Michael Misick will spend the next four years in jail for bribery.

This news has rocked the Caribbean and sends the message that Caribbean leaders must never be embroiled in self-aggrandisement or be seen to benefit from deals concerning the state.

The ebullient Michael Misick led a colourful life and rose to power and riches very quickly. He was at the epicentre of rapid real estate development on the tiny Caribbean island and was proclaimed as one of the region’s most progressive and dynamic leaders for spearheading Turks & Caicos’ growth.

Turks & Caicos is a British Overseas Territory and the British government has been relentless in bringing Misick before the courts for bribery concerning Crown lands.

There can be little doubt that Misick gained enormous wealth quickly, well beyond his government salary would suggest.

Lack of compliance, accountability and transparency are often levelled at many Caribbean administrations and Misick accused the British Government of being racist and not having the Turks & Caicos best interests at heart.

The Misick family is very prevalent in public life in Turks& Caicos, producing a number of lawyers including Michael Misick himself.

At one time Michael Misick fled the island and sought refuge in Brazil where he was held in prison. He was once married to American actress LisaRaye McCoy and dated Eddie Murphy’s former wife Nicole. He loved the high life.

During Michael Misick’s sentencing on Friday,Justice Rajendra Narine said: “ The public interest in this case requires that the sentences should reflect the retributive and deterrent objectives of sentencing. This case involves an immense betrayal of public trust for the sake of personal gain. The conduct of the defendants caused a constitutional crisis and reputational harm to the  territory.

“The public interest requires that the sentence reflect society’s abhorrence of the criminal conduct. And the sentence should be such that like-minded potential offenders will be deterred from similar conduct.”

Justine Narine is from Trinidad & Tobago. 

Michael Misick was looking to receive a suspended sentence but that was rejected. Justice Narine was of the mind to condemn Misick to between 8 to 10 years in jail but it was decided that after it took ten years for the case to come to trial and Misick having spent time in jail in Brazil, a four-year sentence was just.  The four years was still seen as high but the time must match the crime. You can’t have Prime Ministers and heads of countries benefiting from state land transactions-after all, this is not a case of a monarchy from centuries ago.

The case took ten years to come to trial and must have been excruciating for Michael Misick, leaving his future uncertain while he awaited his fate. 

His brother Thomas “Chal” Misick was also thrown in jail for bribery. 

It was found that the Misick brothers took bribes from both local and foreign entities. This was about malpractice while in state office, money laundering and self-enrichment.

“The crown alleges payments were intended to induce Mr. Misick to act corruptly, citing evidence of funds transfers, lack of legitimate purpose and rapid disbursement aligned with his decisions. Having considered the evidence carefully, the court draws the reasonable and compelling inference that Mr. Misick received the payments knowingly and intentionally, using inducements for him to act corruptly.”

 U.S. detective “ Willie” Mitchell  who worked on the case said: “ There is a lot of corruption in Caribbean governments and political leaders getting rich from their time in state office. That has been the case for years. Misick’s situation is nothing new, he got caught and will have to pay the price. There needs to be better transparency and accountability with Caribbean governments. You are not placed in office to rob the people and milk the state. Misick being sent to jail for four years should be a warning to the rest of the Caribbean. Government leaders should never be giving steep discounts to land developers the way Michael Misick did.”

Michael Misick is married to Tatiana van de Merwe, a model from the Dominican Republic.