Misuse of funds for minor home repairs ‘is still under investigation’, police say

Acting Police Commissioner Leamond Deleveaux. (File photo)

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune staff reporter

[email protected]

Deputy Police Commissioner Leamond Deleveaux said an investigation into the alleged misuse of funds in the Small Home Repairs Program under the Minnis government is underway, a year after he told reporters the investigation was 80 percent complete and that the public should hear the outcome “soon.” .

Mr. Deleveaux, in an interview with The Tribune, gave no clear reason for the delay in its completion.

In August 2023, he told reporters that the investigation was “very close to resolution,” adding, “I expect to get back to you very soon and tell you what the results are.”

“A lot of witnesses need to be seen. We do not set a time limit on investigations. We have to do research well. So once we have information, we’re going to check the information, and once it’s checked out, we’ll make a decision.

The home repair program, which was launched by the Minnis government in February 2020, was aimed at helping residents of Abaco and Grand Bahama repair homes damaged by Hurricane Dorian in 2019. The initiative provided vouchers for building materials and other essential items.

In September 2023, New Providence police officers traveled to Grand Bahama to interview several Disaster Reconstruction Authority (DRA) employees as part of a criminal investigation. The Tribune understands that non-DRA employees were also interviewed. An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, said the investigation was broad in scope and was not close to completion.

The investigation, following a forensic audit by the DRA, continued to put pressure on officials linked to the former Minnis government. Some of them hired lawyers as Royal Bahamas police consider whether to file charges.

The Small Home Repairs Program investigation was one of several police investigations launched after the 2021 general election without revealing any conclusions. Police have arrested former Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis questioned early last year as part of their investigation into his government’s food aid program.

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis accused an unnamed nonprofit of spending money by using public funds to buy two luxury trucks and boats intended to provide food assistance during the pandemic.

That was one of many criticisms Mr. Davis has leveled at the program since taking office in 2021.

He also said his government was struggling to determine how the $53 million spent on the National Food Distribution Taskforce was being spent.