Prosecutors alleged in the Corporate Area Criminal Court today that businessman and PNP National Executive member, Donovan Bisasor, attempted to fleece the National Water Commission, NWC, of over 7-million dollars using forged documents.
Bisasor and his quantity surveyor, Jessie Gosse, are accused of conspiracy to defraud, forgery, uttering forged documents and attempting to obtain property using forged documents.
Bisasor is a member of Prime Minister and PNP President, Portia Simpson Miller’s South West St. Andrew constituency executive.
Bisasor and Gosse appeared in court today, one day after they were taken into custody by the Major Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency, MOCA.
Prosecutors told the Court that the NWC reported to the Police that in 2011, a contract was issued to a company, XYC, to repair a section of the Barnes Gully in Kingston.
XYC is owned and operated by Donovan Bisasor.
The Water Commission says the agreed cost of the project was 2-million dollars but Bisasor is reported to have said more money was required to pay for work done.
Allegations are that the businessman also put in a multi-million dollar claim for security services.
Bisasor was asked by the NWC for documents to support his claim.
Prosecutors say upon that request, Jessie Gosse, an employee of D Bisasor and Associates, which is also owed by Donovan Bisasor, submitted a document.
The document purported to show that a payment of 7-point-2 million dollars was required for security services used during execution of the Barnes Gully project.
The Managing Director of the NWC said he was not aware of such claims and the matter was reported to the Police.
A Police investigator from MOCA told the Court today that Gosse, upon Bisasor’s direction, supplied a document to support the claim for the payment of 7-million dollars for security services.
But the investigator reported that it was subsequently discovered that the document was forged.
Attorney Stacy Knight, from the law firm Knight, Junor and Samuels, secured bail for Bisasor and his employee, in the sum of 1-point-5 million dollars each.
Gosse and Bisasor were ordered to surrender their travel documents and a stop order is to be enforced at the nation’s ports.
The men were ordered to return to Court on September 29.
Yesterday, Bisasor’s attorney, Queens Counsel KD Knight, indicated that his client is maintaining his innocence.
Today, as Bisasor was led into Court handcuffed unto several men, there was no sign of support from any notable faces in the PNP.
However, members of his family were in Court.
As proceedings began and Police personnel initially refused to admit her into the Court room in Half Way Tree, Bisasor’s wife Madge, was heard saying – “what a circumstance mi find mi-self in.”
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