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Boots On The Defence Against Claims of A Hustle Scheme
posted (February 28, 2018)
It's a week to go before elections, and UDP Minister of Human Development Anthony Boots Martinez is on the hot seat tonight. One of his former employees, Kirk Lamb is accusing him of setting up a scheme to profit from the public purse.

Lamb, who Martinez fired back in October after he was caught stealing, has an interesting story. He says he was a lifelong Boots Martinez supporter - who the Minister allegedly set up to pose as a contractor under the Poverty Alleviation program. Lamb says an account in his name at the St. John's Credit Union would get credited by Government for building low income houses - and then he would kick the money back to Martinez.

It's quite a claim, alleging a major high level hustle - and to prove it, Lamb has produced a bank account in his name showing the receipts of thousands of dollars in voucher payments - money which was often withdrawn on the same day. There is no proof, however, of any of it was transferred to Martinez.

Now, the history between the two men is worth noting. Back in October, Lamb was before the court - accused of stealing a burglar bar from Martinez. Why would a contractor - who'd been paid thousands for his work be reduced to doing this? Well, the story goes that Lamb fell on hard times - and the supposed home-builder was homeless. Martinez hired him as a caretaker at the Charro's building on the Western Highway - where he also let Lamb live for free. But, when the theft occurred, Martinez fired him - but dropped the charge. And Martinez says he finds it odd that the case is all coming together four months later:...

Hon. Boots Martinez
"You are talking about that that happened October, November, December, January, the end of February one week before the election? In my view, it is a political ploy and that is all I will say about that. It is a political ploy."

Reporter
"His allegation is that he wasn't keeping that money, that you were basically using his credit union account as a clearing account for those monies- between 8 and 10 thousand dollars."

Hon. Boots Martinez
"No man that is not the case. Put it this way, and that's why I'll say to the media now, Mr. Kirk Lamb is a contractor, he was employed from time to time with the Ministry of Works. Mr. Kirk Lamb has offers there, he has biller quantities there, and he has everything there."

Reporter
"You have access to those files from your colleagues. Wouldn't it be in your best interest to get those files yourself and present it to clear your name?"

Hon. Boots Martinez
"I am not here to clear my name. I am saying to you that those are distorted facts. Put it this way, I have to go find that for you? That is like someone comes and says, Marisol, I give you a lot of money; but how will you just take that to mean that? Sometimes I take it like a joke."

Reporter
"In court, he has listed his occupation as a security guard. He never said anything about being a contractor."

Hon. Boots Martinez
"Alright but I'm telling you. The fact is sir that he was a contractor and he worked on capital projects. He was never a security guard. You could have seen Mr. Lamb around that conference table signing fancily. They have pictures at the Ministry of Works. But put it this way, the South Side Poverty Alleviation Project takes a turn where they look for small contractors, not contractors in big business places because the big contractors..."

Reporter
"Would he have had to convince you that he is a liable contractor? So had he done jobs before that?"

Hon. Boots Martinez
"Yes and if you go and see the Ministry records, Mr. Lamb is one of the top contractors. They don't have difficulty with him at all. He is an excellent contractor."

Reporter
"So how could he have fallen from being a contractor, so efficient in his work, to technically homeless?"

Hon. Boots Martinez
"Well, you have to ask God that, him and God, sir. How could I know that? Maybe he has his own gripe and he is conscious about the political season. He hasn't even said what he wants out of this compensation whatsoever."

Reporter
"A house."

Hon. Boots Martinez
"He got his house and his land and he sold it."

When Lamb appeared in court for the theft in October he alleged that Martinez puts things in his name, and didn't give him anything.

As you saw, Martinez disputes those claims. This evening, the PUP put out a release calling on the Prime Minister to fire Martinez. It says, quote, "The recent revelations…(are) a clear violation of the law and should result in his removal from cabinet. It is alleged that 'fake' contractors received government monies to build houses, which were never built." End quote.

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