A US firm hired by the Department of Tourism to plan its African Diaspora Heritage Trail (ADHT) conferences made "completely false representations" which were "unauthorised and contrary to law" in order to raise funds.

That was the view of lawyer Bala Nadarajah, adviser to the publicly funded ADHT Foundation, according to an e-mail he sent to government whistle-blower LeYoni Junos about Henderson Associates Inc. in December 2007.

Three months later, he wrote that his concerns had been ignored, telling Ms Junos that company boss Jake Henderson and "his hand-picked cronies" appeared to have hijacked the ADHT initiative, which is aimed at conserving the cultural achievements globally of people of the African Diaspora.

Correspondence between the lawyer and Ms Junos and from senior Department of Tourism staff to the Maryland-based company is included in evidence submitted to the Supreme Court by Ms Junos as part of a civil case she has brought against Government.

The 47-year-old from Warwick claims she was sacked as administrator of the ADHT Foundation after sounding the alarm about the activities of Henderson Associates, run by Mr. Henderson and his sister Gaynelle Henderson-Bailey. She hopes a judicial review of the decision will see her reinstated.

The evidence includes e-mails from two former acting tourism directors, Jasmin Smith and Ian MacIntyre, in December 2007 and March 2008 respectively, asking the company to retract false claims that the ADHT Foundation had US tax-exempt charitable status.

Ms Junos forwarded Mr. Nadarajah, an attorney at Attride-Stirling and Woloniecki, Ms Smith's e-mail to the Hendersons on December 27.

The lawyer replied: "I am not only baffled but I am angry that Jake Henderson has decided to take the law into his own hands and make such completely false representations, especially when the sole member of ADHT is the Bermuda Government.

"He has acted against the best interests of ADHT and of the Bermuda Government and jeopardised the African Diaspora message and its very laudable objectives.

"This is unforgivable and embarrassing to say the least and his actions purportedly taken on behalf of ADHT are also unauthorised and contrary to law, particularly in the context of fundraising by ADHT also contrary to US tax law.

"This is an extremely serious matter and I request you by this e-mail to bring my comments to the immediate notice of the honourable Premier, the ADHT board of directors and the director of tourism."

Mr. Nadarajah also questioned who had authorised FACTS Institute Inc. — an entity the Hendersons claimed was a subsidiary of ADHT — to collect donations on behalf of the foundation.

Cabinet Secretary Marc Telemaque and Tourism permanent secretary Cherie Whitter were informed by e-mail on December 28 of the concerns.

But Ms Junos told the court yesterday that nothing happened after the matter was sent up the chain of command to the pair.

Mr. MacIntyre wrote to Mr. Henderson on March 11, 2008, advising him that the claim that the ADHT Foundation had secured charitable status in the States was "misleading and not correct" and asking him to retract it.

Ms Junos advised Mr. MacIntyre and Mr. Nadarajah on March 26 that the same claim and request for donations to FACTS Institute was now being made on the ADHT.net website set up by the Hendersons.

Mr. Nadarajah replied: "This is truly unbelievable. Jake Henderson and his hand-picked cronies (including FACTS Inc.) appear to have hijacked the ADHT venture.

"My previous warnings seem to have gone unheeded or been ignored. Please inform the ADHT board of directors and the honourable Premier immediately of the seriousness of this matter."

Ms Junos claims that when she did just that she was fired on the orders of Dr. Brown, whom she claimed in court has "close ties" with the Hendersons.

She said Mr. MacIntyre's claim in an affidavit that he took over her duties, including managing the Hendersons contract, in order to get them done was "completely unfounded". "He did not have the will or the guts to stand his ground," she said.