Ex-Cayman Premier Charged: Theft, Misconduct
Former Cayman Islands Premier McKeeva Bush has been formally charged with two counts of Misconduct in a Public Office, four counts of Breach of Trust, and five counts of Theft.
A statement issued yesterday by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service said, “The former Premier of the Cayman Islands, William McKeeva Bush MLA, has now been charged and is due to appear in court early next month.
“Mr. Bush answered his bail this afternoon and was formally charged with two counts of Misconduct in a Public Office, four counts of Breach of Trust by a member of the Legislative Assembly (contrary to S.13 of the Anti-Corruption Law 2008), and five counts of Theft (contrary to S.241 of the Penal Code 2007 Revision).
“Mr. Bush has been bailed to appear in Grand Court on 12 April 2013,” the Cayman Police statement concluded.
The 57-year-old was arrested in December 2012 by officers from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Services financial crime unit. He was Premier at the time of his arrest, however a week later he was ousted in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence filed by Cayman Opposition Leader Alden McLaughlin.
Former Deputy Premier Juliana O’Connor Connolly was appointed as as the new Premier, marking the first female Premier of the British Overseas Territory.
Mr Bush has called his arrest a “political witch hunt” lead by a “petty and jealous” Governor.
OBA Zealots take note. Where there is evidence, the police investigate and prosecute!
Only in Cayman apparently
You beat me to it. I was thinking the same thing.
Um. you take note- Where the necessary legal framework exists to properly define what is illegal vs what is unethical ..prosecutions take place.
@Oh This Is Funny: What truth (original) is trying to say is that if you want to live in civilized society, then you have to behave in a civilized manner. No one is above the law. And the law will decide what happens to Mr. Bush.
LMAO!! So you think Bermuda doesn’t have corruption laws? They have been on the books for years. Problem is you actually have to do somethibg corrupt to get prosecuted!
Like what? Forcing the housing corporation to purchase your property at above market rates? Or getting a yacht with tax payers money? Or ..i don’t know…telling a supplier or sub contractor to over inflate their invoices?
Just hypothetical actions that might be deemed corrupt for the purpose of discussion.
*__* lol
Precisely. And the blogging frenzied conspiracy theorists in the world cannot make conjecture evidence. Just because loud mouths have convinced themselves of something doesn’t make it fact. Where there is evidence, Police submit charges and the independent DPP from the UK, (appointed by the Governor from the UK) will prosecute. So if you think all those limeys are protecting those who you hate so much then I have a bridge to sell you too…..
You sound a little bit naive.
Or you can just get the auditor general arrested when they start getting too close.
In Cayman they arrest the corrupt politician, while in BDA the arrest the auditor general.
I thought here things are “unethical but not technically illegal”.
Interesting how this gets discussed in Bermuda isn’t it.
We all know what we’re talking about.
We all know who we’re talking about.
And we all know why.
I have to disagree with the statement that Bermuda has corruption laws,what Bermuda has is antiquated corruption laws that dont really fit into todays society.
We need to revamp our laws on corruption so that things that have taken place witin our government for more then the last twenty years,can actually see leaders being held accountable for misconduct and corruption charges being filed.
Allegedly there are many that have speculated on a number of things that went wrong under a previous administration and others,one being the Berkely situation and the other being our new court building,but do you see anyone being hauled off in hand cuffs,No.
So I think we need to be honest and real and those who are in position to make these allegations should back in up with factual information,if not leave it alone and push to have the antiquated laws change so we can tighten up the belt going forward.
Maybe the paperwork has been sitting in some fat policeman’s desk draw for the past five years. just saying…it could happen!
the oba is a lot better than the plp becauser of the fifth amendment to the state of the union read up b!@tch
It takes the WILL to prosecute… apparently the Bermuda Authorities do not have that will. Yet.
@ Measure Twice: There may be corruption laws but when the Auditor General is not provided with the legal framework to “follow the money”, corruption (or the lack thereof) cannot come to light and the alleged perpetrators be prosecuted (or cleared) as appropriate.
Exactly – and you can’t refuse to submit paperwork citing ‘legal priviledge’ and then crow that you have no case to answer!
Don’t worry I’m sure the Attorney General will consider expanding the powers of the auditor right after he figures out exactly how to insert two words and a comma in the Human Rights Act and of course after he creates new laws to crack down on those evil anonymous ‘bloggers’.
He just needs some time to consult with old clients first.
Why aren’t there significant lawsuits in Bermuda?
Not enough access to evidence. Everything here is a mystery (intentionally). I have wondered why Horsman has not sued
Ewart Brown on behalf of the Uighurs for breaching their civil rights. Make it a civil issue instead of a criminal one.
“Mr Bush has called his arrest a “political witch hunt” lead by a “petty and jealous” Governor.”
Interesting that Misick claims political asylum from UKs investigation into corruption.. He also claims to being persecuted by the British.
Bush claims he’s being picked on by a petty and jealous british governor.
Our own Dr Brown in August also claimed that its was the then Governor Gosney who was at fault. That he too was at the mercy of this colonial bullying.
If investigated are they all going to claim political persecution and claim asylum . Is that the game plan. Don’t blame me. I’m innocent. I’m being persecuted.
There are very clear laws regarding theft and corruption in Bermuda. If anyone has any evidence of this taking place then take it to the DPP, the CoP, the Governor, or even Scotland Yard or the UK Foreign Office if you don’t trust the local people. Otherwise any rumour, conjecture and insinuation of any crimes by anyone in Public Office are just that. All this ‘well, we all know what he did or she did whilst in Office’ is tiresome. If you know…really know, and can provide factual evidence then do it. If not, well..zip, button.
Zip? Button? Why? No one gets hurt by these things being called into question. If people cease to question what is perceived as wrongdoing, then we all deserve the mess we get. If the allegations are groundless, _____ and any others may open the books and prove them groundless. Until then, people have some very valid concerns.
By the way, if you are waiting for the legal system here to do the right thing, you are in for a long wait.
Bring what you case like if in Bermuda it’s ‘unethical’ but not illegal. Seems to have been an effective shield so far doesn’t it. That, combined with the limited access to evidence here.
OBA Zealots take note?? you mean PLP take note, all the allegations of things done by the PLP…sooo surprised there werent any arrests.
Maybe the should investigate the former Gov…??
Where did the millions go…???
Do you think that those successful businessmen done the right thing all the time,and those laws are well over 14 years old.
Premier McKeeva Bush led the attacks on Bermuda and was trying to discredit our jurisdiction and our market. I am happy to see him receive the justice he deserves. This is not a time to be OBA/PLP – this is a time to be Bermudian!
wonder if he’ll get elected sometime after his sentence!!!! seems to be the norm in politics these days !!!!
What is it with leaders named Bush?
Well they’re renowned for being dumb!
You reap what you sow! Karma is a *****!!!
Just to follow up read this one
http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-Britain-slams-Turks-and-Caicos-premier's-CARICOM-speech-14937.html
They have recovered almost $ 17 mil and 2600 acres of crown land.
In this regard we are quite blessed in Bermuda.
It would be nice if we could get our $100million back.
a few others is next!
Here we go again, Same shyt different day. Take a spin and try to pin the tail on the donkey and Tell tales tit…
Too damn bad the Cayman authorities are NOT in Bermuda…. I’m sure some big-mouths would also be facing serious charges!!!