PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands — An arrest warrant has been obtained and a ‘Red Notice’ authorised by Interpol for the arrest of Michael Eugene Misick, former premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, the special investigation and prosecution team (SIPT) said on Monday.
An Interpol Red Notice is said to be “the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant in use today” and requests the (provisional) arrest of wanted persons, with a view to extradition. Interpol does not have the authority to issue arrest warrants in the formal sense of the word, as this is the domain of the sovereign member states.
“For the past several months the SIPT has sought to secure the attendance of Mr Misick at its offices in Providenciales in respect of allegations of corruption and money laundering during his time in office. Every opportunity has been given to Mr Misick to voluntarily surrender to the SIPT’s jurisdiction for interview. Despite previous indications from Mr Misick’s solicitors that he would attend for interview, he has failed to do so,” the SIPT said in a statement.
Misick has been reported to be residing in the Dominican Republic, where it is said he may have married the daughter of a high ranking government official. It is not known if this will afford Misick any measure of constitutional immunity and prevent extradition.
According to earlier reports, the Dominican Republic authorities had previously given assurances to their American and British counterparts that they would hand over Misick if called upon to do so.
Misick was the central figure in the 2009 Commission of Inquiry into allegations of widespread government corruption and has rarely visited the TCI in recent times, not being seen here since members of his former administration have been arrested and charged with a number of offences, including money laundering and bribery.
Some here in the TCI thought Misick might appear last weekend to attend a memorial service for his father Charles Misick and a deceased nephew Donny Gardiner in North Caicos.
In a lengthy statement issued following the announcement of the warrant for his arrest, Misick said he has been left with no other choice than to seek political asylum in a third country other than the TCI. He did not state what third country he had in mind.
“My reason for doing so is simple because of the political persecution that is taking place to me and my family, former cabinet ministers and their families and a select few developers who supported me and my Progressive National Party during my tenure as premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands,” Misick said.
“Let be clear. I am not a fugitive, and will never be a fugitive. I have applied for political asylum from another country and I am merely seeking protection from political persecution,” he added.
Misick said he will continue to bring challenges to clear his name and that of his government and colleagues.
However, since Interpol’s constitution forbids the organisation from issuing a Red Notice in circumstances that might represent intervention of a political character, Misick’s claim of political persecution may have already been discounted by the relevant authorities.
The final report of the Commission of Inquiry recommended criminal investigation of Misick of possible corruption and/or other serious dishonesty including misfeasance in public office in relation to the following eleven and other similar matters in recent years:
— Misick may have abused his position as premier and as leader of the Progressive National Party (PNP) by using PNP funds for his own purposes;
— Misick accepted and failed to declare many gifts of money via the client account of his brother and attorney, Chal Misick, which were not, and could not reasonably be interpreted as being political in nature, and which he appears to have applied to his personal expenditure;
— The payment of $500,000 by Dr Cem Kinay, through his company, Turks Ltd, to Misick was a possibly corrupt payment;
— The receipt by Misick of $250,000, purportedly by way of loan from Inazio & Gataen Caltagirone, via the client account of Chal Misick, was possibly a corrupt payment;
— Undocumented and unrepaid loans to Misick, collectively amounting to about $350,000 from Jeffrey Hall, Floyd Hall or his brother and Lillian Boyce or her brother were possibly corrupt payments to him for favours given in relation to a transaction engendering the money to facilitate such payments;
— Misick in recent years accepted and failed to declare to the Registrar of Interests many gifts or purported loans of money via the client account of his brother and attorney, Chal Misick, which were possibly corrupt on account of possible favours given by him in his capacity as premier;
— Misick promoted the abuse of the Crown Land Policy on a number of occasions, and benefited personally from that abuse;
— Misick behaved in a possibly corrupt manner and/or in misfeasance of his public duty, by securing highly paid advertising contracts for his wife with the TCI Tourist Board and with Kerwin Communications purportedly acting on behalf of the Tourist Board, thereby potentially abusing his power with a view to enriching his wife and himself;
— Misick behaved in a potentially seriously dishonest manner, including misfeasance in public office and dishonest misappropriation of public funds, by his possible misuse of government funds and facilities for his personal purposes in his use of aircraft chartered or leased by the government for official purposes;
— A possibility of corruption and/or other serious dishonesty, including misfeasance in public office, in relation Misick in the chain of events leading to the eventual disposal of land at Joe Grant Cay at well below market price to a consortium led by Dr Cem Kinay, following the secret payment by Kinay of $500,000 to him in January 2007, followed by the approval by Cabinet on 16 May 2007, to which Misick was a party;
— Possible corrupt and/or otherwise seriously dishonest involvement, including misfeasance in public office, of Misick in relation to the government’s transactions with Mario Hoffmann of DEVCO for the development of Salt Cay;
Other findings by the Commission in relation to Misick in respect of which no recommendations were made are as follows:
— Misick failed repeatedly throughout his period of membership of the Legislature of the TCI to make full and accurate declarations of his interests;
— Misick failed in several important respects to make adequate disclosures in response to the Commission’s requests, pursuant to its powers under the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance, for full and accurate disclosure of his financial interests.
Source: Caribbean News Now
