The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A businessman yesterday claimed he gave former Cabinet minister Shane Gibson, pictured, $80,000 in cash on five separate occasions to ensure he would be paid for Hurricane Matthew clean-up efforts.

Jonathan Ash, the man at the centre of the bribery claims against Gibson, also said he got almost $1m in cheques for outstanding payment shortly after paying a woman connected to Gibson nearly a quarter of that amount. 

Mr Ash, taking the witness stand before Justice Carolita Bethel, said he received most, if not all, of the $1m plus the government owed him almost immediately after he paid Deborah Bastian $200,000 allegedly on Gibson’s behalf sometime in January 2017.

According to Mr Ash’s testimony and the Crown’s previous assertions, Ms Bastian acted like a middle woman, accepting Mr Ash’s various cash payments on Gibson’s behalf in exchange for Gibson using his government position to ensure Mr Ash would be paid.

Then, Mr Ash, who has been granted immunity from prosecution by the Crown, said he eventually started both communicating with and paying Gibson directly, on multiple occasions. Mr Ash said he ultimately paid Gibson $25,000 each on the first two occasions, and $10,000 on each of the subsequent three occasions.

After being sworn in yesterday, Mr Ash, who owns two trucking companies, said after cleaning up the Bay Street strip in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew—for which he said he did not receive his full payment —he was selected as one of 13 “captains” to spearhead clean-up efforts in the Centreville community. He said he formally accepted that job after speaking with then Ministry of Works Chief Engineer Leyton Rahman.

Mr Ash said he was given five major dumpsites in the Centreville community to clean up, for which he said he billed the government about $45,000.

Armed with five to six men, four dump trucks and two backhoes, he said it took about five days to complete that job. The entire constituency took about three months to clean up, Mr Ash said.

Mr Ash said when he first started, it was agreed that the government would pay him, particularly for his trucks and equipment. Mr Ash said he initially submitted his bills to a location on Deveaux Street for about two weeks, before submitting them to Mr Rahman directly. He said his bills were anywhere between $45,000 to $72,000—the latter figure represented the highest amount he charged for work in Centreville. He said his bill amounts “fluctuated” because they depended on how many workers or equipment were needed weekly.

However, Mr Ash said the government was “always a week or two behind” in paying him his money. He said he was eventually paid, albeit “somewhat”. To his recollection, he was paid four times from the Ministry of Works.

Mr Ash said at some point in the third week in January, he got “frustrated” because he had since been assigned to clean-up three additional dumpsites separate from the Centreville project. Those sites were located on Bacardi Road, Harrold Road (the city dump), and the Sports Centre.

Because the pay was slow to come, and to avoid any issues with the workers, Mr Ash said he ended up paying the workers himself, anywhere between $50 to $75 a day. Mr Ash said he billed the government for doing so, but after a while started to get “a little vexed” because the government owed him money and because his funds started dwindling.

Mr Ash said by January 13-14, 2017 he began to “make some noise” about the outstanding funds, which, he said, was anywhere between $800,000 to $1.5m. He said he spoke with Jack Thompson, then the permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, about the issue while at the National Emergency Management Agency’s (NEMA) office on Harrold Road. He said Mr Thompson referred him to Ms Bastian.

Mr Ash said a meeting was ultimately held between himself, Ms Bastian, and Gibson. The meeting came two to three days after Mr Ash’s conversation with Mr Thompson. The meeting was held at a “pink building” on Meeting Street just off Nassau Street, Mr Ash said.

Mr Ash said when the meeting commenced, Gibson introduced himself as the man responsible for NEMA and in charge of payouts for hurricane clean-up efforts. Mr Ash said he introduced himself and told the former minister that he “needed to be paid”.

After that, Mr Ash said Ms Bastian blurted out: “Tell this gentleman (Gibson) you gave Mr Rahman some money.”

Mr Ash said he was “stunned” by the woman’s remarks, as he said he didn’t anticipate the meeting being one where his personal dealings would be “exposed”. However, in response to a question by lead Crown attorney James Guthrie, QC, Mr Ash said he did in fact pay Mr Rahman for an unspecified purpose.

“Yes I gave him money,” he said. “I wouldn’t lie. I did give him money. Straight up, I gave him money.”

Mr Ash said after Ms Bastian’s remarks, Gibson “didn’t really say anything”, but merely smiled. Mr Ash said Gibson got up and left the room, but not before telling him and Ms Bastian: “Ya’ll two talk.”

Mr Ash said he and Ms Bastian spoke for no more than 20 minutes. Afterwards, he said he went to Commonwealth Bank and withdrew about $25,000 cash. Then he said he went to his home and retrieved another $25,000. He said he called Ms Bastian and met her in the parking lot at Commonwealth Bank on Nassau Street.

While there, he said, he placed a “package” containing the money in her car.

Mr Ash said after that meeting with Ms Bastian, and sometime between January 17 and 19, he got a cheque for $250,000. He said Ms Bastian gave him the cheque at the NEMA office in Penn’s Building Square. Mr Ash said between the 17th and the 21st of that month, he got almost $1m worth of cheques.

Mr Ash said during that time, he made other payments to Ms Bastian. In total, he said he paid her $200,000 cash between January and February 2017. Mr Ash said one time, he wanted to have some form of record of the transactions, so she went to a local bank, and Branson Gibson, the bank’s manager, gave her between $20,000 to $25,000.

Mr Ash said once when he was off the island, Ms Bastian took one of his government cheques from the Public Treasury to the bank. Mr Ash said he was called on the issue, and authorised for Ms Bastian to be paid another $20,000 to $25,000 under the condition she sign for same.

Mr Ash said during the time he was making the payments to Ms Bastian, he would see the woman as well as Gibson during his daily commute. He said on one occasion, he saw them both near the six-legged roundabout on John F Kennedy Drive, and again in the Prospect Ridge area.

On the first occasion, he said Gibson was driving a Kia Soul, and Ms Bastian a blue, Japanese car. On the second occasion, he said Ms Bastian was in Gibson’s car talking to the former minister.

Mr Ash said he eventually started communicating with Gibson directly, as the two had struck up an amicable relationship. He said he would see Gibson face-to-face, and would also communicate with him via WhatsApp. Gibson, Mr Ash said, would typically call him mostly via WhatsApp.

Mr Ash claimed the first time he gave money to Gibson was in the area of Baha Mar Boulevard, when he paid Gibson $25,000. On the second occasion, Mr Ash said he paid Gibson another $25,000 while at the shooting range off Gladstone Road. Mr Ash said afterwards, he paid Gibson three separate payments of $10,000.

Mr Ash said during one of their conversations/encounters, Gibson told him he wanted some “shingles”, which he said he understood to mean that the man wanted cash. That request was made sometime between February and March 2017, Mr Ash said.

The case continues today.