Did government minister pressure businessman to file charges against Joe Coye?

Jose Coye

Former Minister of Health, Joe Coye was charged in April of 2008 for theft and obtaining property by deception. The proprietor of J.E.C., Alfred Schakron, alleged that he gave five hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars to Coye and his driver Cornel Flowers for the government property on which the Putt-Putt Bar was located on Newtown Barracks. Eventually, Schakron asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to drop the charges and in January of 2009, she did. But Coye felt that the charges smeared his good name and he filed his own suit against Schakron for malicious prosecution. On day two of the case, there was a shocking allegation dropped in the courtroom by Schakron who said that he was pressured by a government minister to make the allegations against Coye.  Coye stopped by our studios to say that this proves that the U.D.P. was using dirty tricks against him.

Joe Coye, Former Minister

“The defense council that is Mister Rodwell Williams for Mister Schakron, attempted to introduce what would have been a copy of a cheque; a purported copy of a cheque. The time for submitting evidence has long past and of course my defense took objection that the time had passed for bringing in evidence. The judge obviously has the discretion to decide whether to admit it or not. After some arguments were made, the judge made it clear that if you are bringing a document that appears to be this, obviously whatever the date is, you would have been able to have it long before. That is I think the reason why the judge dismissed it. When my council cross examined mister Schakron and he asked him about the declaration that he had made, which formed the basis for my arrest back then in April 2008, he tried to get from him why he did it and the council got him to say that he was pressured. In other words in the end, in the cross examination he said that he was pressured. When he said he was pressured the council decided to pursue and ask him why he was pressured. And in asking him why he was pressured, he went on to say that he was made an offer and that is what I thought was to be the bombshell in the courtroom; that he admitted he was pressured and he used the word Mister Gaspar Vega, the Minister of Lands of course.  He was pressured in return for what was offered to him and that was what we thought was the bombshell of the case yesterday. You will recall that at the victory rally that was in February 2008, the Minister of National Security did make a statement from the rostrum saying he would jail those PUPs and he did mention my name among them.”

Coye is suing Schakron for fifty thousand dollars in legal fees that he incurred during the trials.