THE controversial 25-page report on the criminal charges brought against three former New Building Society (NBS) employees, following a $69M fraud case at in 2006, does not deal with the actions of NBS.

This was according to Ombudsman The Honourable Mr. Winston Moore, yesterday, at a news conference held at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street.
“The focus of my report is on the criminal charges brought against the managers…I can confidently state that not one sentence in my report contains any reference to anything allegedly done by the NBS Board,” he said.
Moore confidently added that he had jurisdiction to investigate and compile his report.
He also made it clear that contrary to expressed concerns of a breach of the sub-judice principle, his investigation cannot affect the ongoing civil action currently before the High Court, since he dealt with criminal proceedings.
Moore stressed that the limits of his functions are clearly outlined in the Constitution, as well as in the Ombudsman’s Act.
His report, which was initially circulated to the parties involved for comment, was handed to the Clerk of the National Assembly last week for tabling in the House.
He also maintains that he did not circulate the report to sections of the media, given that at least two media houses published articles relative to the contents of the report – an action that has led to concerns being raised by NBS, even as Moore contends that his report in no way “stigmatised” the Society.
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
The $69.9M fraud was said to have been committed in late 2006.
Arjoon and two former senior m*anagers, Kent Vincent and Kissoon Baldeo were subsequently fired in 2007 after an investigation, which concluded that there was dereliction of duty, negligence and/or serious misconduct.
Following that, charges were laid against them. These charges were subsequently discharged after the virtual complaint failed to re-appear in court for the ongoing preliminary investigation.
Subsequently, the managers challenged the Society’s decision to terminate their employment, among other things, but this was dismissed.
Arjoon later moved ahead with a civil action against NBS and the matter is currently before the courts.
Following this, he made a complaint to the Ombudsman’s Office and the subsequent Ombudsman’s report on the matter was released several days ago.
The Ombudsman also used the news conference as an opportunity to detail the timeline relative to the investigations into the matter by his office.