NASSAU, Bahamas, (CMC) – Chief Superintendent Michael Johnson, the former head of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in The Bahamas, has resigned from the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) as investigations continue into audio recordings that allege corruption and misconduct.
Johnson had taken leave in July following the leak of these recordings on social media. The individual who shared the recordings on Facebook also released what he claimed was evidence showing that some police officers were providing hitmen with GPS locations of men on bail, who were being electronically monitored with ankle bracelets. According to the claim, these hitmen then carried out gangland assassinations of the men.
In a statement, outgoing Police Commissioner, Clayton Fernander, confirmed that police had interviewed a former high-ranking officer and an attorney at the centre of their investigations into the leaked voice recordings in recent days.
Fernander said while both men were released pending further inquiries, his office is awaiting directions from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
He said the file relating to the “complex, multifaceted and thorough” investigation was sent to the DPP’s office on December 20 last year, and that further information as requested had been send 10 days later.
“I have referred the matters involving other officers, uncovered during this investigation, to the incoming deputy commissioner of police who has responsibility for discipline,” Fernander added.
The investigation surrounds the voice notes that purported to capture a quid-pro-quo arrangement involving a senior police officer, a lawyer and two murdered men, Michael Fox Jr and Dino Smith. The conversation centred around a $1.5 million US airport bank car heist in November 2023.
Fox Jr and Smith, both of whom are now dead, were suspects in that matter but were never charged. Two other men, Oral Roberts, 34, and Akeil Holmes, 26, were charged in connection with the robbery. Roberts was killed in Fox Hill last year.
Asked whether Johnson had been pressured to resign based on the findings of the police investigation, Commissioner Fernander said he could not comment on what led to his decision to leave the force.
“That’s why we continue to say that we don’t investigate in the media and the investigators took our time and that’s how we got to where we are today.
“We want to throw the net at the end of the day, not only looking at one individual but as we probe the investigation, we find that a number of other officers were implicated in the matter,” he said, adding that he hopes the DPP will provide a recommendation “in a reasonable time.”
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