Former Petrojam chairman did not stay at London hotel despite booking

DR Perceval Bahado Singh, former chairman of the Staterun oil refinery Petrojam, did not check into a London hotel in March 2018, although a reservation was made for him, the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court was told Tuesday.

Dr Singh and Floyd Grindley, a former general manager of Petrojam, are on trial for fraud-related charges. Singh is accused of claiming for overseas trips which he did not undertake, while Grindley is accused of aiding and abetting Singh. The claims amounted to more than US$73,000.

Restaurant owner Bhakta Das, who, between 2018 and 2019, was general manager of Grange Tower Bridge Hotel in London, England, testified on Tuesday that the former Petrojam chair did not show up at the hotel he was booked to stay.

According to Das, who testified via a secure video link from London, the hotel “received a booking on the 28th of February 2018” and “he [Dr Singh] was supposed to stay from the 2nd of March all the way to the 5th of March and his departure date was to be the 6th of March”.

However, Singh did not check into the hotel, Das told the court.

Das, who said he was was responsible for the overall management of the hotel, including the reservations department, confirmed in court that chemist and manager of safety, environment, and quality assurance Lloyd Jarrett, who was part of a Petrojam delegation attending meetings in London with insurance companies, checked into the hotel on February 25, 2018, which Jarrett had told the court last week.

“Mr Jarrett left on the 3rd of March 2018,” Das told the trial.

He also testified that Petrojam Chief Financial Officer Delroy Brown arrived on February 25, 2018 and checked out on March 1, 2018.

Tamara Robinson, the legal officer and corporate secretary of Petrojam, meanwhile, continued her testimony, which started last week.

After answering questions from the prosecution on Tuesday, she was asked several questions by defence attorneys Bert Samuels, who is representing Singh, and Queen’s Counsel KD Knight, who is representing Grindley.

Robinson showed numerous signs of frustration at different points during her testimony and was repeatedly urged by the attorneys to answer the questions posed and not volunteer details she wasn’t prompted to provide.

Samuels probed whether she was acting on her own accord when she said in July 2016 that members of the board who reside overseas should consider resigning if they would not be able to attend board meetings. After Robinson declared this stance in July 2016, Harold Malcolm, a board member who was to migrate at the end of the month, was subsequently reappointed to the board by then Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Andrew Wheatley.

Samuels: “Did you, at any meeting, advise the board that the reappointment of Mr Malcolm was incorrect?” Robinson: “No, I did not.” Samuels questioned whether Robinson was familiar with a document referred to in court as Circular 21, which came from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service. She was also asked if she was ever guided by this document, which defined the particulars for overseas travel of board members.

Looking at an exhibit placed before her which contained Circular 21, Robinson told the court that it states guidelines for overseas travel for official purposes, but said she was not familiar with it.

When Knight started his line of questioning, the prosecution raised an objection after he asked Robinson if she had ever seen a psychologist before, due to her not answering to exactly what she was asked. Robinson, at various points, sought to expound on questions which required from her a yes or no response, peeving the defence. The question was disallowed by Parish Court Judge Maxine Ellis, which prompted Knight to move to his next question.

Knight suggested to the witness that when she took Singh through the orientation process when he became chairman in 2016, she was aware that he resided overseas, questioning her reason for subsequently recommending that board members living outside of Jamaica should consider resigning.

Robinson said she was aware that Singh lived overseas during his chairmanship, but did not know if he lived there permanently.