NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamas Department of Corrections Commissioner Doan Cleare clarified to Eyewitness News that he did not receive a $1.5 million dollar settlement as reported on Monday evening by Eyewitness News.
The initial report stemmed from a cross-examination in the Supreme Court on Monday afternoon where Cleare took the stand as he addressed Defense Attorney Ramona Farquharson-Seymour who is representing former BDOCS Commissioner Charles Murphy who claims he was wrongfully dismissed from the post.
Cleare clarified that the $1.5 million dollars mentioned in court was in connection with back-payments being issued to BDOCS officers hailing from the 2014, 2016 and 2018 squads.
Cleare asserted: “I wrote a cabinet paper, asking the government of The Bahamas to provide me with $1.5 million dollars to pay those back-pays, and those staff got their back-pays totaling $1.5 million dollars.”
Eyewitness News reported yesterday that Cleare “testified in court that he was forced to go on leave, and after returning to duty, he applied for back-pay which he was granted along with a settlement of over $1 million dollars.”
He corrected that report, insisting that the $1.5M “had nothing to do with settlement.”
Cleare noted that he arrived at a settlement with government, but never disclosed the amount.
The Davis administration has opted not to disclose settlement amounts which Cleare, among a number of sitting and former government officials received from The Davis Administration stemming from grievances of how they were handled under the former Minnis-led administration.
