The trial of former PPP/C public service minister Dr Jennifer Westford and her former aide Margaret Cummings, who are charged with the alleged theft of over $600 million from the government, continued yesterday with testimony from Peter Moore, the Chief Accountant at the Ministry of the Presidency.
Moore, who was led in his testimony by state prosecutor Teshanna Lake, told the court that among his duties as the Chief Accountant is to examine vouchers for payments, at times when Alwayne Williams, who is also an accountant, is on leave.
Williams, the court has been told, was the accountant who would examine the payment vouchers at the Ministry of the Presidency.
Moore testified that he had known Westford as the former Minister of Public Service for years, while he knew Cummings as the Chief Personnel Officer at the ministry. He said too that he had communicated with both women often.
According to Moore, on August 13, 2015, police showed him three payment vouchers. He said the police asked him if he ever saw the vouchers before and he answered in the affirmative. He said he recognised the vouchers by his signature as he was the person who had examined them.
The witness explained that when he examines a voucher, he looks for supporting documents, which in the case of the three vouchers would have been memorandums from Westford. He also said that he would have to check to see if the Permanent Secretary approved the request for payment and if the amount of money requested on the memorandum matches the amount on the payment voucher. He would then look for the payee—the person who would be receiving the money. Moore indicated that the payee as stated on the memorandum at the time was Cummings.
During his testimony, Moore told the court that the first payment voucher, with number 0103435, was for the sum of $15 million and dated December, 2011; the second payment voucher, with number 0101345, was for the sum of $10 million and it was dated June, 2012; and the third payment voucher, with number 0102602, was for the sum of $20 million and it was dated October, 2012.
Moore was asked if he made the payments but he told the court that he could not recall. He later explained that he only made payment for the $15 million voucher, since he recognised his handwriting on the voucher as the one who made the payment. He could not recall making the other payments, since the details on those vouchers were not in his handwriting.
Moore said that while he was at Eve Leary on August 13, 2015, Cummings was also present. The witness said that after he was shown the three payment vouchers by the police, he was asked if he could identify the person who collected the money that was made out on the vouchers.
Moore said that he told the police in front of Cummings that he made the payment to her. He added that the police asked Cummings if she would like to say anything and she replied “no comments.”
Meanwhile, Williams, who was present, was further cross-examined by defence attorney Senior Counsel Rex McKay on his years of service at the ministry and what the memorandums, captioned “Financial Assistance for Public Service Evaluation,” were for. Williams told the court that those would normally entail training and evaluation, but he did not know who would be the intended beneficiaries. Williams’ cross examination was later deferred. The trial continues today.
