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(CNS): The Anti-Corruption Commission’s investigators have been accused of focusing on the ‘low-hanging fruit’ pursuing only allegations about minor officials taking small bribes while ignoring what is perceived, in some quarters, as serous allegations against officials in far more senior or political roles. But the former chair of the ACC, Charles Jennings has denied this is the case in the 2024 annual report for the anti-corruption body, tabled in parliament recently, stating that the investigators follow-up on every complaint but need evidence to make a case. “The accusation is sometimes made that the ACC prefers to pursue prosecutions against “low-hangingfruit” rather than perceived or rumored corruption at higher levels,” Jennings stated in the introduction to the report. “The ACC rejects that accusation. It investigates every complaint it receives, including those made against persons in high positions of public trust, without partiality. But accusations of corruption, like any other crime, must be supported by evidence which is strong enough to succeed in court. Baseless rumors and allegations, or those made without sufficient evidence, will not reach the charging stage, let alone court,” he added. Complaints whether perceived to be low-hanging fruit or not must be accompanied by sufficient evidence of a corrupt act at least an indication of the means by which such evidence can be tracked down, the former chair said. “The ACC is entitled to begin investigations of its own volition. But again, it will do so only if it has the necessary grounds to do so; and without such grounds will not do so merely on the basis of rumor or public outcry,” Jennings wrote. The report documents the work of the commission and its investigators which covered the twelve month period between mid 2023 and mid 2024. During that time the ACC undertook ten investigations, which have reached varying stages of completion. At the time the report was authored Jennings indicated that one person was awaiting the outcome of a charge ruling decision by the office of the director of public prosecutions and five people were on bail, either to the Grand Court awaiting trial or sentencing or to the ACC itself pending the outcome of its investigations. “As has been stressed in prior annual reports, much work is undertaken by the ACC and its investigators which does not lead to charges or prosecutions and is therefore largely unseen and uncredited,” Jennings stated. “During the course of the Reporting Period, the ACC has investigated various serious allegations made against a number of persons, some of whom have been in positions of considerable trust, which have led to their exoneration and no further action being taken.” This, he said, demonstrates the ACC’s commitment to conducting open-minded and fair investigations, the purpose of which is to either prove or disprove allegations. To date however, no senior individuals have ever been arrested in connection to any ACC investigation since the commission was established. For the best part of this year and last the ACC had pursued a case against two government officials at DVDL and dozens of car owners who were paying between $100 and $200 bungs to get their vehicles through the inspection or to pass the written driver’s license without going through the actual test or after they had failed them. While that case has resulted in some convictions with those paying the bribes given community based sentences, one of the government officials allegedly involved has denied the allegations and is set to be tried in Grand Court later this year. As a result there is a partial interim gag order on some of the details. But with only two full time investigators this case which began back in 2019 has consumed much of the ACC’s time. In his message Jennings also noted that he had just been appointed to chair at the end of the reporting period and as a result he had the former Chair Gus Pope sign the document. AS the new chair at the time having been a member of the commission for two years he spoke about the need to address such an unusual situation. But as of today the ACC has not chair. Jennings stepped down last month and according to the website only one member of the commission is still in term. However according to the governor’s office they are currently in the process of identifying and appointing a suitable chair but six members of the Commission continue to serve, with their terms expiring between June 2026 and October 2028. But the office said that the ACC’s website is out of date with the new membership and it would be asking the secretariat to update the details of the new membership though this had not been done at the time of publication. See the annual report here.
