NHDT chairman could face criminal charges

“As a result I went to check the ownership of the land where it had ended up. The fill is an asset of the Housing Trust. If it was sold to the board chair there should have been a transparent process surrounding that in which the rest of the board would have approved the sale and ensure it was at market value.”

Ezzard Miller, former North Side MP

(CMR) Exclusive CMR sources have shared that National Housing Development Trust (NHDT) Board Chairman, Mr. Geoffry William Ebanks (45), may be facing criminal charges in relation to the movement of soil and marl taken from a North Side NHDT job site to family land.

Earlier on Monday afternoon, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) confirmed in a statement that it was referring a matter to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration of charges under the Anti-Corruption Act (Revised) that involves the trust. The ACC did not name Ebanks nor did it confirm which NHDT matter it was referring to.

However, CMR understands that the matter has been under investigation by the ACC since it was brought to light earlier in March that some marl had been moved from a job site. The allegation was made by several district residents who alleged it was some sort of an inside deal after the material was delivered to land owned by the chairman and his father.

Ebanks is a  local farmer and his family has a farm in North Side. The allegations were that decision was made to sell or gift the soil, which belongs to the Housing Trust, without going through the correct procurement process running afoul of transparency principles. The soil is said to be valued at “several thousand dollars.”

Former Public Accounts Committee chairman and former North Side MP, Ezzard Miller, said earlier this year that he had checked the ownership of the land where the material was taken and had confirmed it was owned by Ebanks.

“The fill is an asset of the Housing Trust. If it was sold to the board chair, there should have been a transparent process surrounding that in which the rest of the board would have approved the sale and ensure it was at market value,” he said in an interview then.

The site was cleared earlier this year to make room for the first affordable housing project in the district with some trees and bushes being donated to Beacon Farms, a non-profit organization located in North Side for compost use.

CMR understands that Geoffry William Ebanks would have been aware of the pending investigation and had promised the PACT government that he would have resigned but his resignation had not been received as of press time.