Leslie Campbell to know fate in December re IC case on his statutories

Former Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament (MP) and later Senator and Cabinet Minister, Leslie Campbell, who is an attorney, is to learn his fate on December 12 relative to charges laid against him by the Integrity Commission (IC) for purportedly failing to provide information relating to his statutory declarations.

The matter was tried in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Friday.

Presiding Parish Judge, Paula Blake Powell, is to hand down her decision by December 12.

At the trial, the former MP denied allegations that he failed to provide information to the IC relative to his statutory declarations.

In a press release from Campbell's attorneys last June, the then politician expressed shock that the IC decided to charge him, and requested "an urgent review" of that decision by the anti-corruption body.

The IC's Director of Investigations (DI), Kevon Stephenson, stated in an investigation report last year that Campbell was, by virtue of being Member of Parliament (MP) for North East St Catherine between 2016 and 2020, legally obligated to file his statutory declarations.

The DI concluded that after the submission, Campbell was requested to provide further information by the commission, and was aware of the requests.

However, the DI said Campbell, who served as a Government senator from September 2020 to May 2023, failed to do so.

In a subsequent ruling that was tabled in the Senate, the IC’s Director of Corruption Prosecution, Keisha Prince-Kameka, determined that Campbell should be charged, as his actions breached Section 15 1(C) of the Parliamentary Integrity of Members Act and Section 43 1(B) of the Integrity Commission Act.

Campbell’s attorney at the time said he (Campbell) "reported that the Integrity Commission has continued to request the surrender value for an insurance policy, Guardian Life Care Plus policy, which has no surrender value."