Above: downtown Grand Turk

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The government of Turks and Caicos has obtained the first civil recovery order under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Ordinance 2007, Attorney General Huw Shepheard announced today.

The order was made by the Chief Justice following a short hearing; Gill and the government reached a settlement beforehand.

“After a comprehensive investigation by the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team into the role of John Gill, and following a detailed review of the evidence against him, I agreed to proceed in his case by way of a civil recovery action,” Shepheard said.

Under the order, Gill is to pay the government $1.25 million to settle criminal and civil issues identified during the course of an inquiry into allegations of unlawful conduct that first surfaced during the Commission of Inquiry in 2008 and 2009. That commission examed allegations of corruption and serious dishonesty among members of the TCI legislature.

“I am satisfied that the public interest is served by this settlement and it is a settlement that is consistent with the interim administration’s policy that it wishes to treat in a fair and proportionate way with all self-confessed wrongdoers,” Shepherd said in a statement. “I will, in appropriate cases, consider that an acceptance of responsibility and an agreement to make financial recompense is a sufficient way to resolve these issues, whilst always reserving the right to take criminal proceedings in the right case.”