Nassau, BAHAMAS-Two police officers, who belonged to the security detail of businessman Jonathan Ash, have been placed on administrative leave.
Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle announced their suspension this evening.
He made the announcement hours after Ash admitted to breaching the nationwide coronavirus curfew by operating a liquor store.
The officers—a superintendent and corporal—are on leave, pending an investigation into claims that they allowed Ash to break the law.
Rolle ordered an investigation after a viral social media showed Ash selling alcohol from the Made Men Bar on Faith Avenue on Friday, April 17.
The video showed an unmarked police cruiser on the premises.
In the video, Ash appeared to give the superintendent money. The corporal puts liquor into a car before driving off.
The suspended officers—a superintendent and corporal—worked at the Central Intelligence Bureau, which manages the witness protection programme.
Bribery claims
Ash joined the witness protection programme after he accused two Cabinet Ministers in the former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) of corruption.
Police arrested Shane Gibson and Kenred Dorsett shortly after the PLP’s crushing defeat at the polls in 2017.
Ash claimed that he bribed both ministers to approve payments for work done by his trucking company after Hurricane Matthew.
Fined for curfew breaches
Ash appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis this morning on the curfew violations.
He arrived at court in a blacked-out police cruiser. Officers from the Central Intelligence Branch flanked Ash before he sprinted up the steps to the Magistrates’ Court Complex.
The magistrate fined Ash $2,000 or nine months in prison for breaching the curfew by failing to stay at home.
He ordered him to pay $5,000 or face one year in prison for running a non-essential business during the curfew.
Ash paid $2,000 of the fine and has until April 24 to pay the balance.
Although Ash arrived with police, he was on bail for the offenses.
