Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Penn refutes having ‘disregard’ in serial delinquency to declare interests

Penn refutes having ‘disregard’ in serial delinquency to declare interests

Opposition Leader Marlon Penn has refuted suggestions that his repeated failure to address delinquent behaviour in the House of Assembly (HOA) was an indicator of a pattern of disregard for his statutory obligations.

Penn had countered those suggestions concerning his untimely declarations to the Registrar of Interests while giving evidence before the Commission of Inquiry (COI) yesterday, June 17.

The Register of Interests is a record kept of the financial interests of HOA members who are required to make declarations into it annually. However, Penn has been filing his declarations every four years.

The COI was informed that he submitted four declarations in February 2017 that were due since 2013, and again, later submitted another four declarations in February 2021 for the period 2017-2020.

Questioned by COI attorney, Bilal Rawat, as to whether one can conclude that his level of compliance demonstrates a lack of regard for his statutory obligation, Penn disagreed.

“I won’t accept that. I was delinquent, I have admitted to my delinquency. I have made steps to correct my delinquency going forward and I’m going to continue on that path,” Penn responded.

The Opposition Leader was among a parade of legislators revealed, over the past week, to have been delinquent in their submissions of declarations to the Registrar. However, Penn is recorded as one of the worst offenders.

Penn’s conflict of interest


Penn’s own submissions drew particular scrutiny from the COI given the pattern in which they were submitted and the fact that he was appointed to a committee that has oversight over the Register of Interests.

Penn was first appointed to the Standing Select Committee — also referred to as the Register of Interests Committee — in 2016 and again in 2019 after the most recent general elections. One purpose of committee is to consider reports made by the Registrar.

“You allowed yourself to be nominated to a committee in the Third House in 2016 when you were non-compliant with your own obligations. You allowed yourself to be nominated to a committee in this House (2019), when again you were still non-compliant with your obligations. Did you not anticipate or see that there could be a conflict of interest for you in allowing your name to be put forward?” Rawat asked Penn.

In response, the Opposition leader simply said, “possibly”. And after being pressed for an elaboration he added, “I have no reason”.

Committee only met once in the last few years


According to the Opposition legislator, the committee only met once in the Third House of Assembly in 2016 and has never met since being established again in 2019.

It was further put to Penn that it was ‘beneficial’ to delinquent HOA members if the oversight committee did not meet or take action against persons who declined to declare their interests on time or at all. Again, Penn refuted this notion.

Instead, the Opposition Leader said he never had any nefarious intentions in making his submissions to the Registrar late.

He further informed the COI that he never called for any meetings in the current HOA but can recall discussions being had about the committee’s single meeting held in the previous HOA.

Penn, who earlier said he had no personal objections to public officers’ interests being made public, did not disclose upon his first appointment to the oversight committee that he had not filed declarations for four years.

After some seeming reluctance, the legislator ultimately acknowledged that the system was not working effectively, given the fact that there were no sanctions for him after his repeated delinquency.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×