Former tourism minister, Zane DeSilva, has gone on trial in Bermuda with his daughter and an associate accused of providing untrue information to an official at the Ministry of National Security regarding a charity dinner.
DeSilva, 63, now a government backbencher, his daughter Zarah Harper, 38, and Angela Caldwell, 44, a partner in Zarabi Entertainment, which hosted the dinner, have denied the charges.
The charge added that there was an intention to cause the public officer to do something they would not otherwise do, “namely that they provided a letter stating that an event would be a charity fundraising dinner in order to be granted an exemption to hold a large-group gathering under the Public Health (COVID-19 Emergency Powers) Regulations 2020”.
Jurors heard on the opening day of the trial that the case related to correspondence made before an event at Blu Bar and Grill in Warwick on July 3, 2020, attended by around 130 guests.
Former national security minister, Wayne Caines, told the Supreme Court there was no “rulebook” for the early months of the pandemic and agreed that events were considered for exemption from large group limits if they were for charity.
Caines, who was Minister of National Security at the time of the event, said “prior to the COVID-19 crisis in Bermuda, this country had never seen a set of circumstances like this in our history.”
He highlighted social, political and professional ramifications that resulted from the measures put in place to try to limit the spread of the virus.
“There were a number of businesses that were complaining, lamenting that they were not able to survive because the country was closed down. We received indication from the third sector, the charities in Bermuda, that our people were going hungry and the third sector were running out of money,” the former minister added.
The Court was told that permission for the event on July 3, 2020, was issued by Caines in his ministerial role.
But prosecutor, Alan Richards, prosecuting, asked the witness what persuaded him the exemption should be granted.
Caines, now a government backbencher, said “looking at all the circumstances it was an event that allowed a restaurant to recommence commerce … that among other events was getting our economy back on track.
“The second part – there was an opportunity to raise money for the third sector.”
Another e-mail from Caldwell to Caines was dated July 1, the Court heard, and had a follow-up letter also from the general manager attached.
The letter stated that the event “will be a one-off fundraising dinner for Meals on Wheels”.
Caines agreed when Richards said “Meals on Wheels wasn’t mentioned in the previous letter.”
Richards told jurors earlier in his opening remarks “we anticipate that you will hear that Meals on Wheels knew nothing whatsoever about it.
“It’s the Crown’s case, respectfully, that that was a figment, a contrivance to overcome the need to demonstrate exceptional circumstances in order to obtain from the minister an exemption from the large-group limit.”
Caines and DeSilva left the cabinet after they accepted an “invitation to resign” from Premier David Burt just days after the dinner.
The trial is continuing.
CMC/
