Holness ‘retains confidence’ in Wheatley amid IC recommendation for corruption charges

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness says he retains confidence in Cabinet Minister Dr Andrew Wheatley, who faces four criminal charges, and was unaware of the Integrity Commission’s investigation when he reappointed Wheatley last year. 

“Dr Wheatley retains my confidence in the work that he has been doing in the Office of the Prime Minister, particularly AI and cyber, and these other areas,” Holness told Cliff Hughes on Nationwide Radio on Monday. 

The declaration of confidence comes as Wheatley faces mounting calls for him to resign from Cabinet following an Integrity Commission recommendation that he face four criminal charges, including illicit enrichment involving approximately $164 million in unexplained wealth allegedly amassed between 2013 and 2022.

Wheatley is Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister responsible for Science, Technology and Special Projects. He has rejected the findings as “patently false, grossly misleading and inaccurate”. 

Despite expressing confidence in Wheatley, Holness acknowledged that the commission's findings are not a matter he can dismiss lightly. “The charges that are suggested or recommended are serious charges," he said. “Now, the challenge, of course, is that no charge has yet been preferred on him. So, until that point, we will observe the situation.”

Holness said he is still to complete a full assessment of the 89-page report, which was released by the House of Representatives last Wednesday. “I have read the report, briefly. I haven't had a chance to go through it. I do intend to be briefed by the attorneys as to exactly what is stated," he said, clarifying that he was referring to attorneys for the parties in the matter.

Holness also indicated he would raise the matter directly with Wheatley at Monday's Cabinet meeting. “We will have a fulsome discussion with him directly on the report and what to expect in the future,” he said.

The prime minister defended his 2025 reappointment of Wheatley, noting he had deliberately withheld it after the 2020 election because of the controversies at the state-owned oil refinery, Petrojam, that triggered Wheatley's resignation from Cabinet in July 2018. 

“After the 2020 election, I did not reappoint him because those matters were not yet resolved," Holness said. "Those matters were since resolved and therefore he was cleared to be reappointed.”

“I was totally unaware of any report or any investigation," Holness added. 

At a People's National Party news conference last Thursday, Senator Cleveland Tomlinson demanded the prime minister answer directly whether he knew of the investigation before making the September 2025 appointment.

“Did the prime minister know when he was appointing him as minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister in September 2025 that he was under investigation for illicit enrichment?" Tomlinson asked, citing information in the IC’s report that said Wheatley was served with an illicit enrichment notice by the IC at a January 2024 meeting. 

“Did he hide that information from the prime minister? If he hid that information from the prime minister, it's more a reason for the prime minister to remove him from the cabinet,” Tomlinson asserted. 

Tomlinson went further, saying the Prime Minister faces accountability either way. 

“Now if he shared that information with the prime minister, why did the prime minister appoint him notwithstanding that knowledge? The prime minister has an obligation to not only dismiss him but to tell the public if he knew that he was under investigation.”

The commission's investigation report, released simultaneously with a ruling by the director of corruption prosecution recommending charges, alleged Wheatley made false statements in statutory declarations covering the periods 2013 to 2017 and 2018 to 2022, failed to provide information requested by the commission, and had unexplained omissions relating to loans, investments and property holdings. Possible tax compliance issues were also referred to the Tax Administration Jamaica Commissioner General.

Among other things, Wheatley has argued that investigators failed to account for approximately $168 million in rental income he lawfully accumulated and declared, as well as roughly $50 million in loan repayments tied to his real estate business.

The Opposition People's National Party, the Jamaicans for Justice and the Jamaica Council of Churches are among groups that have called for Wheatley's sacking from the Cabinet. 

"The minister who has been recommended for prosecution on four criminal charges, including the serious offence of illicit enrichment, cannot be allowed to remain in the Cabinet of Jamaica," said the Opposition Leader Mark Golding. 

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