Exclusive Cayman Marl Road (“CMR”) sources have confirmed that Kimberley Davis, the formerly suspended Director of Boards and Work Permits at the immigration department has quietly been exonerated and asked to return to work.
Originally Davis was placed on required leave in November 2014 and eventually charged with a number of immigration-related offenses including making a false statement and unlawfully employing a person. She was alleged to have given false information to the immigration department in relation to her own private companies regarding health insurance payments and employing a kitchen helper without a valid work permit.
However, our sources have informed us that before heading for trial in late April of this year the two charges against Davis personally and the most serious of the three offenses were dropped. In light of the amended charges, Davis pleads guilty in her capacity as a director of Drink Fresh Juices to the unauthorized employment allegation.
Sources allege this was an honest mistake that was caught by Davis who then informed the immigration department and provided an explanation of the oversight which resulted in an employee working less than 30 days past the expiration of his permit which was up for renewal. In fact, in open court, the DPP read part of her statement indicating it was an oversight and submitted to the judge that it very well appeared to be the case.
CMR contacted a local immigration consultant and they informed us that it was rather unusual to charge her for what is normally handled with a warning and for multiple infractions an administrative fine. They wondered why the DPP was being heavy-handed in their approach. Davis was surprisingly fined the maximum administrative penalty of five times the annual work permit fee.
They noted, “I’ve never seen a person with such a small infraction end up before the courts. With a violation of fewer than 30 days and a first-time offender, one would normally NOT be subjected to criminal prosecution or even a fine. First-time offenders are warned and in more serious cases a small fine administered. That is the reason for the discretionary powers. To see that the maximum fine was administered still says a lot. It does make a sensible person wonder why this allowance was not extended to Mrs. Davis as well.”
Other reputable sources claim that former Chief Immigration Officer, Linda Evans, currently on required leave for her own disciplinary issues; was to testify in this high profile case but was excused at the last moment from the April 26th court hearing.
Evans was also a key witness in another unsuccessful criminal case against former work permit board secretary Tichina Richfield.
Although Davis has been invited back to work our senior government sources tell us that her position was being filled on an interim basis by existing immigration staff and she has not yet returned to the office and is on sick leave.
There’s no guarantee that she would be placed back in the same position; which has been an ongoing issue with suspended workers who return after a mandatory leave being allegedly displaced back into the service.
Davis was highly lauded when she joined the department back in March 2012. She managed 40 staff members and worked closely with the chairpersons on the key immigration boards and department of employment relations. Davis has international experience having worked with Deloitte Financial Advisory Services in New York. Her biography is ironically still available on the immigration website:
http://www.immigration.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/immhome/aboutus/biographies/boardsbios
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid