The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Urban Renewal Deputy Director Michelle Reckley is one step closer to standing trial over allegations she defrauded the government of $1.2m via the Urban Renewal Small Homes Repair programme in Grand Bahama.

Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt transferred the matter to Magistrate Ambrose Armbrister’s court following a status hearing over Reckley’s multiple million-dollar fraud allegations.

Reckley, pictured right, along with five others—James Hall, Kylon Vincent, Christopher Symonette, Stefanie Collie and Joseph Lightbourne—will return to Magistrate Armbrister’s court on March 29 for a fixture hearing.

According to the chief magistrate, Magistrate Armbrister accepted the matter after she would have spoken to “several” of her colleagues, two of which she said were “not minded” to accept the matter for various reasons.

She thus encouraged counsel on record for the matter to work together and with the Crown, led by Eucal Bonaby, to designate two straight weeks out of their calendar for the matter to be heard in its entirety.

Otherwise, she said based on her experience, such a matter, with six accused people, can linger for an “inordinate” amount of time. She further noted that she would “hate” to know that the matter would end up lasting for “years”.

A date of March 29 was ultimately proposed by the Court for a fixture date. On the issue of trial dates, Mr Bonaby proposed either the last two weeks in June or the first two weeks in July as options. However, defence attorneys Anthony McKinney, Simeon Brown, and Carlson Shurland, all indicated that they all have issues with the Crown’s disclosure of certain documents and/or parcels of evidence to date.

In particular, Mr McKinney noted that he had written a “lengthy” letter to Mr Bonaby concerning many items that haven’t been disclosed by the Crown, as he asserted that said discovery list is “long”.

Nonetheless, Mr McKinney and Mr Shurland both indicated their willingness to work with an earlier trial date, given their client’s desires to have the matter heard sooner than later.

Mr Brown objected to the early trial date however, as he expressed the difficulty the the Crown’s lack of disclosure would have on him being able to properly analyse the documents and preparing a proper defence.

In particular, he referred to a certain item listed for discovery in Mr McKinney’s letter, namely the engagement contract between the government and/or Urban Renewal and KPMG, as one of those he would have to analyse alongside his accountant. And that would “take time”, he said.

Last month, Reckley, 58, was charged with defrauding the government of some $1,255,637.83 via the Urban Renewal Small Homes Repair programme in Grand Bahama.

She was arraigned alongside five others—Hall, 49; Vincent, 26; Symonette, 59; Collie, 27; and Lightbourne, 40 —when they all entered not guilty pleas to 59 total charges. Reckley faces 21 charges.Shortly after their arraignments at the Nassau Street Magistrate’s Court complex, the accused were transferred to the Supreme Court where they were granted bail in the amount of $9,000 each.