Contractor General Greg Christie, in a 104-page report on investigations into the award of contracts at the beleaguered state-owned bus company, said Sangster committed a criminal offence when he contravened Section 29 (a) of the Contractor General Act.
According to the report, Sangster "wilfully" made a "false statement" on a JUTC quarterly contract award (QCA) report dated July 28. Christie said in his report that the statement was intended to mislead the contractor general.
No word from sangster
Sangster, who was overseas when the report was tabled in the Senate last Friday, told The Gleaner he would determine whether to respond to the findings of the damning report when he returned to the island today.
However, Minister of Transport and Works Mike Henry has been critical of the contractor general, raising questions about whether he had overstepped his boundaries by recommending criminal sanctions against Sangster, who is the acting managing director of the bus company.
Henry argued that such a judgement would be better made by a member of the judiciary or the DPP.
Yesterday, Christie was reluctant to respond to Henry's comments, but on being pressed, said the minister's concerns were not supported by law.
Christie contended that he was obliged to submit the matter to the DPP, having regard to evidence of a criminal offence under the Contractor General Act.
He pointed out that following the completion of his report into the Cuban light-bulb project last year, the modus operandi were the same, as he submitted his findings to the DPP, the commissioner of police and the attorney general.
In accordance with the law
The contractor general insisted that he had acted in accordance with the law when he pointed to a criminal breach in the alleged falsification of the QCA by late JUTC Chairman Douglas Chambers and Sangster.
Meanwhile, Henry, in written declarations to the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) on October 17, stated: "It is my information that at the time of his death, Mr Douglas Chambers was a stakeholder, but not the majority shareholder, in Simber Production Limited."
The company, in which Chambers was the majority shareholder, was offered a $1.6 million contract to produce a JUTC SmartCard feature on the 'Susan' television talk show. Advertisements for the bus company were also produced.
Christie stated in his report that Henry said Chambers was not the majority shareholder, despite official records at the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) at the time of Chambers' death on June 27 which contradicted this assertion.
The report said Chambers made a formal declaration, in writing, to the ORC on May 2 that indicated he was the majority shareholder.
No good explanation
Christie, in his report, contended that the minister had failed, in his responses to the OCG, to explain the reasons for his information or belief that "Mr Douglas Chambers was not the majority shareholder in Simber Production Limited.
A report in Monday's Gleaner stated that Christie said Chambers lied when he claimed he was not the majority shareholder in the company.
However, this was untrue as Christie's report only stated that Chambers was the majority shareholder.
Yesterday, People's National Party chairman Robert Pickersgill suggested Golding should fire Henry.
However, Pickersgill has shied away from requesting the minister's head himself.