Cayman Islands businessman Canover Watson denied allegations of corruption made against him in a short statement issued Friday, one day after his arrest by officers from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Anti-Corruption Unit.
Mr. Watson, 43, was arrested Thursday morning at his Prospect-area home following a months-long criminal investigation into circumstances surrounding the contract for the Cayman Islands public hospital system’s swipe card billing technology.
A press release sent Friday by Mr. Watson’s lawyer, Ben Tonner, on his client’s behalf, read: “I make this brief statement following my arrest in relation to suspected offenses contrary to the Anti-Corruption Law.
“The allegations are denied. In due course, at the proper time and in the appropriate forum, I look forward to setting out my position in greater detail. For present purposes since the police investigation is ongoing, I have been advised by my attorneys that it would be inappropriate for me to make further comment.”
Mr. Watson, managing director at Admiral Administration, a local financial services company, and a former recipient of the Young Caymanian Leadership Award, was held in police custody most of the day Thursday following his 7 a.m. arrest. He was released on police bail Thursday evening.
No charges had been filed against Mr. Watson at the time of his release. He is due to report back to police on Sept. 29.
Officers declined to release further details of his bail conditions, including whether Mr. Watson would be allowed to leave the Cayman Islands during the course of the investigation.
According to a statement from Anti-Corruption Commissioner David Baines, Mr. Watson’s arrest was for suspicion of breach of trust contrary to section 13 of the Cayman Islands Anti-Corruption Law, as well as abuse of public office under section 17, and conflict of interest contrary to section 19 of the Anti-Corruption Law.
In addition, officers with the Anti-Corruption Unit and Royal Cayman Islands Police Financial Crime Unit arrested Mr. Watson on suspicion of money laundering contrary to section 133 of the Proceeds of Crime Law [2008].
Police did not state the nature of the money laundering allegation and it was not specifically referred to in Mr. Watson’s statement Friday. The three allegations under the Anti-Corruption Law were in regard to the alleged actions of Mr. Watson while he was at the helm of the Health Services Authority.
Section 19 of the Anti-Corruption Law [2008] refers to decisions taken by public officers in which they have a “personal interest” where those decisions are not disclosed and/or where the public officer “votes or otherwise takes part in proceedings of the government entity related to such [personal] interest.” To do so is an offense under the Anti-Corruption Law, carrying a prison term of up to five years.
For some months, the Anti-Corruption Commission has been looking into certain aspects of the award and implementation of a 2010 contract the public hospital system signed with the local arm of a Caribbean company for a patient swipe card system known as CarePay.
The contract for the swipe card system was awarded on Dec. 21, 2010, to AIS Cayman Ltd., an agent of St. Lucia-based Health Adjudication Systems, for a five-year period. According to the contract, AIS Cayman Ltd. was to receive US$1.37 million for initiating and implementing the computerized card swipe system. In addition, it would receive from the Cayman Islands National Insurance Company and the government Health Services Authority 4 percent of the value of every swipe card transaction approved for payment.
The value of the 4 percent charge on the swipe card payments, according to contract records, would have been around US$2.4 million per year.
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