Friday was an important day for The Bahamas. Amid the scurry over Hurricane Joaquin, police informed that they were taking the accused Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) bribe taker to court. Not long after, Fred Ramsey, a well known insurance executive who once served on the board of BEC and who once ran in Fox Hill on the Free National Movement's ticket, was charged with accepting more than $600,000 in bribes from a foreign company over a decade ago.

Prosecutors allege that Ramsey accepted a total of $651,788.9 between 1999 and February 2003. It is also alleged that he acted with others, but he was the only one who faced charges on Friday. It was not surprising to hear he is accused of acting with others. U.S. court documents have said the alleged bribe taker did not act alone.

Ramsey pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted bail in the amount of $40,000. The charges came just over nine months after the U.S. Department of Justice reported that French power company Alstom SA had agreed to pay $772 million to resolve allegations that it bribed high-ranking foreign government officials for lucrative projects. Federal prosecutors said Alstom falsified its records and paid tens of millions of dollars in bribes for help in obtaining more than $4 billion in projects in countries including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and The Bahamas.
It was important for the Office of the Attorney General to give the public conclusion to the allegations.

Its conclusion could have been in the form of a public statement saying there was not enough evidence to prosecute anyone, or that there was enough evidence in its view for somebody to be prosecuted. After examining the findings of a months-long police probe into the matter, the Office of the Attorney General concluded that there was enough evidence to prosecute. It is already in the public domain that U.S. court documents said that in connection with the bidding on power projects, Alstom retained "Consultant I" who, as certain Alstom employees knew, was a close personal friend of "Official 8", a board member of BEC.

The names of Consultant I and Official 8 were omitted from the recorded agreement. Ramsey now has the opportunity to defend himself against the charges brought. His appearance before the court on Friday triggered a new round of speculation and conspiracy theories. Many people are quite skeptical as they watch the developments.

It is important that we allow the process to continue to play out. This is a high profile international matter. Other jurisdictions have also prosecuted individuals in relation to it. Ramsey is, of course, innocent until and unless he is proven guilty. This prosecution shows that The Bahamas has the capacity and will to investigate and prosecute such high profile matters.

The police investigating team traveled to the United States as part of its probe. Senior police officials have been very careful not to compromise their investigation. Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson has also handled the matter with great care.

Amid pressure from the public and the media to act on the matter, she pointed out in a statement in June, "The fact that United States legal officials have supplied information to The Bahamas in the BEC matter, including naming a person alleged in the United States' proceedings to have received a bribe, does not automatically mean that the matter is ready for prosecution in this jurisdiction."

We must not rush to judgment and we must resist the urge to try to piece together what we think are the facts.We expect to see the prosecution's case shortly. Again, a lot has been placed in the public domain through U.S. court documents. There is widespread interest locally in this matter. In other jurisdictions, it is also being closely watched.

While we make no judgment on Ramsey's guilt or innocence, we are pleased to see that the authorities have taken this matter seriously.
This is monumental. It could possibly set the tone for future handling of any corruption issues that arise. It sends the message that The Bahamas is serious about ensuring it is not labeled as a rogue jurisdiction.

In many circles, there's not a lot of confidence that The Bahamas is willing to prosecute high profile individuals and known businessmen. This will put many on notice that one CAN actually be outed and charged for a crime such as this. Graft and other forms of corruption are the most insidious acts that negatively impact our society and raise the cost of doing business in a country like The Bahamas.

This could be the beginning of a seed change in The Bahamas. All eyes are on us. We hope that Ramsey has access to a full and fair trial that will allow the facts to come out and the court to decide. And we hope that the authorities will continue to let the chips fall where they may in this case.

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