00:00National Lottery's Control Board and LCB Director Michael Jogi is now the subject of an investigation by the Statutory Authorities Service Commission on allegations of misconduct.
00:11Jogi has been suspended indefinitely from his post until completion of the investigation.
00:16TV6 News exclusively obtained a copy of the suspension letter addressed to Mr. Jogi on September 9th.
00:22There were five allegations listed against the Director.
00:26The first stated that you, Michael Jogi, Director of National Lottery's Control Board and LCB, in the course of your duties,
00:33backdated and approved an application concerning World of Reggae contest from 22nd of May 2024 to 17th of May 2024
00:41to cover dates when the contest was already being promoted by the applicant as having been approved by the NLCB.
00:49The second allegation was that Jogi, in the course of his duties, failed to report to the Board of the NLCB
00:55that you had ongoing discussions with TTT Ltd. during the period March 2024 to June 2024
01:02about the possible disruption of the televising of NLCB broadcasts of its games,
01:07namely, draws of the NLCB P2 and P4 lottery games on TTT for a two-week period between 26th of July 2024 and 11th of August 2024.
01:19The third listed allegation said that Jogi,
01:23falsely denied to the Board that he granted approval for the change in the broadcasting arrangements with TTT Ltd.
01:30The fourth allegation was also related to TTT Ltd. in which they claimed that Jogi, in the course of his duties,
01:37approved the change in the mode of broadcasting of the live draw of the games on 13th of June 2024
01:43without consulting the Board and without any apparent thought being given to the implications or impact of the foregoing
01:50on the revenue, integrity of the games or possible reputational risk to the NLCB.
01:57The last allegation claimed that Jogi,
02:00recklessly and without lawful basis, issued an email dated 5th September 2024 addressed to subordinate staff
02:08as well as parties external to the organisation,
02:11alleging that it appeared that public funds were being spent and expenses incurred by the Chairman and Board
02:16without the knowledge of the Director, NLCB and that the situation reeked of alleged corruption.
02:23Regarding the allegations surrounding the arrangements made with TTT Ltd,
02:27TV6 News obtained a letter from TTT Ltd dated 27th July 2024 addressed to NLCB's attorneys from Jennifer Farrar-Tull,
02:37TTT's Acting Legal Advisor and Corporate Secretary, which stated,
02:41Throughout the duration of the existing contract, there have been several instances where there have been changes
02:46to the broadcast schedule in accordance with the preemption clause of the contract,
02:51specifically clause 5,
02:53Through our established course of dealings, these changes have always, as far as reasonably practicable,
02:59been communicated to NLCB and approval granted by the Director of NLCB and its presumptive head,
03:05Mr Michael Jogi, via email, without any issue being taken by the Board of Directors of NLCB.
03:12TV6 contacted Jogi, who confirmed the receipt of the letter and his suspension from the NLCB.
03:18Asked for comment about the allegations, he said,
03:26TV6 News had also asked Minister of Finance, Kom Imbert, last Friday via WhatsApp,
03:31about Jogi's suspension and the investigation. However, Minister Imbert did not respond.
03:37Three insiders at the NLCB who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity,
03:41said there were several other pressing matters that needed to be investigated within the NLCB
03:46and described the allegations against Jogi as, quote-unquote, frivolous.
03:52A legal source who was also privy to the letter described the first four allegations as procedural issues
03:57and the fifth as an ethical issue.
04:00Sources also indicated that some of these pressing matters that had been recently raised
04:04were now being investigated by the Office of the Procurement Regulator.
04:08Meanwhile, Jogi's matter is being investigated by Dexter Jagannath,
04:11the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance.
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