Mikael Phillips moves to clear his name amid claims of IC probe

Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester North Western, the People’s National Party’s Mikael Phillips, has denied claims that he is being investigated for illicit enrichment by the Integrity Commission (IC).

However, Phillips has admitted that his 2022 statutory declaration filing with the IC was late, revealing that he was slapped with sanctions as a result. Phillips made the disclosure in a news release on Friday.

The Opposition MP is reportedly the subject of an IC investigation report that was recently sent to Parliament but is yet to be tabled. It is the first investigation report to be submitted to the Parliament by the IC since a similar report was made public on September 17 which revealed that Prime Minister Andrew Holness had been under an illicit enrichment probe for over a year.

That matter has now ended up before the Court as the prime minister has challenged aspects of the report.

In the meantime, Phillips has moved to clear his name.

“In the interest of openness, I wish to state that my 2022 statutory declaration was unfortunately late due to a delay in getting all the relevant documents. Shortly after the deadline, the documents were submitted and I have since fully complied with all the requirements,” Phillips stated. He insisted that he is not being probed for illicit enrichment.

“As a public servant, I take my responsibilities seriously and while the statutory declaration was delayed it is not connected with illicit enrichment. All my statutory declarations have been certified and the late-filing penalty of $250,000 has been paid,” Phillips explained.

“I remain committed to serving my constituents and the people of Jamaica with integrity, transparency and accountability,” he added.