Phone evidence was called in to question in the Frank Smith extortion trial Friday, after 64 calls recorded on phone logs in police custody, were noticeably absent from phone bills.
Detective Corporal Cory Adderley is the third witness to testify in the extortion case against the former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) senator.
Smith is accused of extorting $60,000 from Barbara Hanna, the owner of Magic Touch Cleaning Company, after he allegedly assisted her in obtaining a contract to clean the Critical Care Unit (CCU) of Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), while he served as chairman of the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA).
Adderley told the court that he logged telephone calls between four numbers, one of which Hanna previously identified as hers, and three other numbers that have yet to be identified. He said calls were shared between the numbers in question more than 100 times between June 2016 and July 2017.
However, after extensive questioning from Damion Gomez, QC, one of Smith’s attorneys, lead prosecutor Edward Jenkins conceded that 64 of those calls – despite being logged into evidence – did not appear on the billing of the accused.
In fact, it was revealed that one of the calls, allegedly between Smith and Hanna, took place when Smith was already in police custody.
The trial resumes June 11 at noon.
