Phillips’ wife said opposition leader declared real estate assets of $58m, not $3.6m $54M BLUNDER
OPPOSITION LEADER Dr Peter Phillips’ wife has revealed that his 2018 statutory declaration placed the value of the real estate assets owned jointly with her at $58 million and suggested that the Integrity Commission was to blame for the grossly under-reported figure published in the Jamaica Gazette.
The commission, in a summary report of Phillips’ declaration, which was gazetted last month, disclosed that the opposition leader; his wife, well-known attorney Sandra Minott-Phillips; and children declared assets and income totalling roughly $185 million last year.
According to the summary, the Phillipses had real estate assets valued at $3.6 million, a revelation that raised eyebrows for some
public commentators.
But Minott-Phillips revealed yesterday that the current market value for the home she owns jointly with her husband is $48 million, while a “tract of land” owned by her has been valued at $10 million, information she said had been disclosed to the commission.
“By further written response dated 3 July, 2019 to the Integrity Commission’s stated imperative that a value be placed on all assets declared, my husband provided the commission with estimated current market values of our real estate by way of an addendum to the information in his 2018 declaration”, Minott-Phillips said in a letter to The Gleaner.
“To be clear, my husband did not understate the current value of our real estate assets in his declaration for the year ended 31 December, 2018. The gazetted summary of his declaration was not prepared by us,” she continued.
When contacted, acting executive director of the Integrity Commission, Colonel Daniel Pryce, declined to comment, telling The Gleaner that he needed to conduct his own checks. Up to press time last night, there was no further word from him.