Former St Lucia opposition leader jailed on tax related charge
Key Points(5)
- A High Court judge Tuesday sentenced former St Lucia opposition leader Marcus Nicholas to six months in jail after he was found guilty of “uttering or using false documents for tax purposes”.
- Justice Patrick Thompson imposed the sentence on Nicholas, who in 2017 was arrested after he attempted to get a tax return payment in his girlfriend’s name.
- A jury <a href="https://stlucia.loopnews.com/content/marcus-nicholas-found-guilty">in November last year found him guilty of the charge</a>.
- “I take full responsibility,” he told the court, adding “I am sorry that I put the Court and the country in this position and accept full responsibility”.
- The Court heard that Nicholas, who first entered Parliament in 2001 as a member of the United Workers Party (UWP), wrote a letter to the Inland Revenue and signed it in his girlfriends’ name as well as writing her name below the signature.
A High Court judge Tuesday sentenced former St Lucia opposition leader Marcus Nicholas to six months in jail after he was found guilty of “uttering or using false documents for tax purposes”.
Justice Patrick Thompson imposed the sentence on Nicholas, who in 2017 was arrested after he attempted to get a tax return payment in his girlfriend’s name. A jury in November last year found him guilty of the charge.
“I take full responsibility,” he told the court, adding “I am sorry that I put the Court and the country in this position and accept full responsibility”.
The Court heard that Nicholas, who first entered Parliament in 2001 as a member of the United Workers Party (UWP), wrote a letter to the Inland Revenue and signed it in his girlfriends’ name as well as writing her name below the signature.
The judge in imposing the sentence said Nicholas, a former deputy speaker, who also served as a junior minister in the government of the late Sir John Compton following the 2006 general election, should have known better.
Nicholas served as St Lucia's opposition leader from April 2004 to November 2006 and did not contest the 2011 general election.
CMC/
