I WAS arrested on suspicion of being in possession of stolen goods. The alleged stolen goods were three binders of copies of police documents. How, you might ask, did I come into possession of copies of Police files and, why, knowing the very sensitive position I was placing myself in, would I expose myself to the strong arm of the law? In a nutshell, I felt I had little choice in the matter. A Bermudian came to me and said that he was in possession of Police documents that indicated corruption at the highest levels of Government and a subsequent cover-up. If I thought, after reviewing a small portion of the contents, that the files might indeed indicate such activity, would I be willing to take possession of the documents? I cannot imagine any Auditor General, faced with this, refusing to exercise his Constitutional responsibilities.

Moreover, I had every expectation that in a contest between two Constitutional officers, one given the Constitutional right to ask for and receive all documents relating to audits, the Courts would be asked to decide where the law stood on the issues. Certainly, if the Courts determined, in considering the totality of the law, that I had to turn over audit documents to the Police, I would have done so. I never expected that the law allowed the Commissioner of Police to be the complainant, the judge and the enforcer where it appeared to me that all the law establishing my independence, my right to information, and my mandate to act, was being totally ignored.

In order to have my staff, some of whom were employees of local audit firms, released from an office lockdown, I had my wife obtain and bring the files to my Office. However, I would not reveal the source. As I was to learn, but have reason to believe the Police knew from whom the information came all along, copies could not be considered stolen property as a matter of law.

In any event, I came to find out that the Police had been told the week before who my source was, information I confirmed once I became aware that my source had already readily admitted to it. With the reasons for my arrest now very much debatable, I feel that my arrest was an attempt to discredit me and was politically motivated.