NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – A political supporter of the embattled former youth, sports, and culture minister, Lanisha Rolle, has accepted a plea agreement and is cooperating with prosecutors in a case in which she has been slapped with a slew of charges related to bribery and a government contracts scheme valued at over US$700,000.
Alfred Mortimer, who is 2017, helped Rolle’s election campaign, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery before Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans.
According to the charge, on November 9, 2020, Mortimer “offered an advantage to a public servant as an inducement to, or reward for or otherwise on account of giving assistance or using influence in procuring a contract at the Grand Bahama Sporting Complex issued by the National Sports Authority to G&C Landscaping and Maintenance.”
As a result of the plea deal, Mortimer, who is the uncle of Mrs. Rolle’s husband, is expected to assist the prosecution in building the case against the former minister, who faces one count of bribery and 14 counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by pretenses concerning contracts valued at US$711,989.56.
Rolle resigned from her Cabinet role in February 2021 amid an audit of the country’s sports authority. She has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
“I stand by my record that as a minister, as far as I am aware, all proper procedures were followed, as far as I was aware as a minister,” the Nassau Guardian reported her saying in November, adding that “justice will prevail.”
Rolle’s husband, Vontenken Rolle, is charged with her on one count of conspiracy to defraud the government out of US$168,000 regarding the award of a contract. In comparison, Godfrey Burrows is accused of fraudulently obtaining US$34,690 for a warrant issued to Miller’s Masonry and Carpentry for work at the South Beach Pools.
Burrows and Wilfred Rolle Jr are charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by pretenses about that contract.
The charges relate to her time as a government minister between 2019 to 2021. Her husband was granted US$50,000 bail, and their co-accused were each granted US$10,000 bail.
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