In recent months, several public contracts awarded by the Collectivity have been the subject of a judicial investigation, the most publicized being the one involving the president of the Collectivity. The president of the COM is accused of having awarded contracts without respecting all the rules. This preliminary investigation conducted by the prosecutor's office in Basse-Terre is closed since it has been referred to the local court of Saint-Martin; the hearing is set for the end of January 2021.
Other independent investigations - but still in connection with public contracts - are in progress and as part of one of them, Daniel Gibbs was heard as a witness Monday by investigators at the gendarmerie in Saint-Martin. This is an investigation led by an examining magistrate from Basse-Terre, involving two other elected officials and agents of the community. Daniel Gibbs is not concerned but, according to the procedure, he was heard in his capacity as president of the community.
During this hearing yesterday, elements were exposed to him by the gendarmes, of which he was not aware until then. This information leads him to suppose that the Collectivity could be the victim of facts which would fall under criminal law. But not being implicated in this case, the president does not have access to the file and does not know all the ins and outs. This is why he is considering, in his capacity as president, to file a civil action with the investigating judge, the only step which allows him to have access to the file. According to his lawyer, the decision will be taken in the coming days. At this stage, his counsel refuses to comment and to qualify the facts of which the COM could be victim because he has not yet consulted the file.
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