Did Musa impede F.I.U. investigation? Director says no

The government Press Office has issued an explosive release stating that former prime minister Said Musa failed to refer the Senate Select Committee’s report on the Social Security Board to the Financial Intelligence Unit … and when questioned about it, lied to the House of Representatives. On closer inspection, however, it appears that the new team in charge of the Prime Minister’s media affairs has forgotten that the election is over.

What is true is that Prime Minister Dean Barrow did meet with F.I.U. director Geraldine Davis. But while the press release gives the impression that the Musa administration was impeding Davis in the pursuit of illegal activity at S.S.B. as well as other cases involving the theft of six million dollars at B.T.L. and Moises Cal’s cash dealings in Panama, this afternoon Davis told News Five a different story.

When questioned on the failure of Musa to give her a copy of the Senate report, she admitted that while, indeed, the former P.M. did not personally hand it to her, in fact G.O.B.’s legal advisor, Gian Ghandi, did. As to when it was sent, Davis said she could not recall exactly but believes that it was either on the day of the House meeting or shortly after.

As to whether she took action on the report, Davis told News Five’s Stewart Krohn that she asked Ghandi for more details but he did not provide them. Did she follow up? No, she said and admitted that she could have been more aggressive in pursuit of any alleged wrongdoing.

As for B.T.L’s missing six million, which involved a money changing arrangement between former B.T.L. acting C.E.O. Gaspar Aguilar and Dion Zabaneh, Davis told us she worked diligently on the financial aspects of the case and has passed on the file to the police for possible criminal investigation.

The same is true for the Moises Cal case which Davis, a well respected career public servant, says she’s been pursuing for a year.

So why is the Prime Minister’s new press secretary, Delroy Cutkelvin, making it look like Davis was asleep at the wheel? Only he can answer that.