Following disclosures by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo of the transfer of millions in funds from the Department of Public Service to the children of Minister Simona Broomes, Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon on Friday said the sums represented scholarship payments which they earned as part of their contracts with government.
Speaking at his weekly press conference two weeks ago, Jagdeo said as part of his duty to expose misconduct, he had made enquiries into transfers of significant sums to the personal accounts of the children of Minister with responsibility for Youth Simona Broomes. “We have asked for clarity, but there has been nothing but silence,” he said, while calling the transfers “state-sponsored kleptocracy.”
According to him, just over $20 million was transferred from the Ministry of the Presidency’s Department of Public Service to the accounts of two of the minister’s children. Her daughter, who this newspaper understands was a top academic performer at a local private school, received $10.47 million in 2018 and a further $7.63 million in 2019, while her son received $2.5 million sometime in 2018.
