ACC refers cases related to company's shipping deals to prosecutor general
AMMAN -- The judiciary may still investigate alleged corruption in the privatisation of the phosphate company despite deputies' refusal to refer any suspects in the case to the prosecutor general, an MP said on Thursday.
Ramtha Deputy Ahmad Shaqran, head of the Lower House committee that investigated allegations of corruption in the privatisation of the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC), explained yesterday that after the Lower House's decision not to refer to the prosecutor general any of the 16 persons listed in his panel's final report on the case, "it has become every Jordanian's right to know those who misused their positions and failed to bring the country a fair deal in the sale of the government's shares in the JPMC".
He added that the judiciary is likely to conduct its own investigation into the alleged illegalities in the privatisation deal, relying mostly on the recommendations of the panel, which he said were based upon the legal opinions of established and reputable lawyers and legal experts.
Commenting on Wednesday's vote in which the Lower House declined to refer any of those implicated in the investigation to the judiciary, Shaqran said he and other members of the panel were satisfied to have revealed their findings to the House and the public, adding that "we are happy to see deputies approving our recommendation to terminate the JPMC privatisation agreement".
During Wednesday's session, an overwhelming majority of MPs approved the committee's first three recommendations to the government.
These were to cancel the JPMC privatisation agreement on the grounds of its "unconstitutionality and illegality", grant concession rights for the exploitation of phosphate in other regions in the Kingdom and rectify the status of the board of directors of the formerly state-owned JPMC.
Most of the 97 deputies attending, however, voted down the panel's recommendations to refer a former premier, ministers and senior officials to the judiciary to investigate alleged corruption in the privatisation deal.
"The case is now the concern of all Jordanians who have the right to see all those who failed to do their jobs prosecuted," Shaqran said.
The Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted an unnamed source from the JPMC as confirming yesterday that the parliamentary panel's recommendation to rectify the status of the firm's board of directors will be discussed during the board's meeting slated for April 4.
The source added that the board will also register the government's shares in the JPMC in the name of the Brunei Investment Agency, the main agency that holds and manages the government of Brunei's general reserve fund, and not KAMIL Holdings Ltd. as stipulated in the privatisation agreement.
The representation of the Brunei government in the JPMC board of directors will be decreased from four to three in line with the Jordanian Companies' Law, the source told Petra.
In its final report, the investigation panel charged that the JPMC privatisation deal was supposed to be signed with the Brunei government as a strategic partner but was changed after the Council of Ministers approved the agreement to be signed with KAMIL Holdings.
Refuting the panel's conclusions, Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh, during Wednesday's session, confirmed that KAMIL Holdings is owned by the Brunei government, describing the panel's assumption as "wrong".
He also affirmed that the Brunei government had transferred $111 million to the state's treasury.
"This means that KAMIL Holdings is owned by an investment agency affiliated with the Brunei government," the premier said.
Also yesterday, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) referred to the prosecutor general corruption cases related to some of the JPMC's sea freight shipping deals, according to Petra.
The ACC said the JPMC, after entering a strategic partnership and having a new board of directors, had signed sea freight shipment deals with "still anonymous" foreign firms, ignoring contracts signed with the Jordan International Chartering Company (JICC), 30 per cent of whose shares are owned by the JPMC, Petra said.
In its report, the ACC found that those foreign companies had signed several sea freight shipping agreements with the JICC at prices lower than those agreed on with the JPMC, costing the mining company JD40 million in profits, according to Petra.
Citing charges related to conflict of interest and exploitation of office, the ACC also said Aqaba Development and Marine Services (ADMS), with which the JPMC signed a deal to ship 250,000 tonnes of phosphate to Turkey in 2010, was found to be owned by the JPMC's CEO and chairman of the board of directors and his relatives, Petra reported.
The commission also found that ADMS owned around 70 per cent of the contracts that the JPMC signed with ship owners to transport the phosphate from Aqaba to other countries, according to Petra.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the results of Wednesday's vote, the Islamic Action Front issued a statement yesterday calling for dissolving the 16th Parliament and holding early elections, Petra reported.
© Jordan Times 2012
