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PHILIPSBURG — The dismissal of Anthony Carty from his position as director of Bureau Telecommunication and Post (BTP) per April 15, 2024 was justified, the Court for Civil Servants Affairs stated in a recent ruling. Therefore, Carty’s appeal against an earlier ruling failed.
The court found Carty again guilty of neglect of duty, failure to report side activities and incompatible commercial activities.
Already in 2015 a critical report from the General Audit Chamber noted that Carty did not have a performance contract, had hardly any responsibilities and had carte blanche with the BTP-budget. His outrageous salary, estimated to be around $214,000 per year, was higher than that of the prime minister.
Subsequent court cases revealed that Carty was a business partner of former parliamentarian Frans Richardson, who was at the time a member of the parliamentary committee for Tourism, Economic Affairs, Telecommunication and Transport (TEATT).
They established Caribbean Value Estate (CVE), claiming it was going to do business in St. Kitts. They also established Actis, a company set up to manage St. Maarten’s numbering plan.
Actis signed a contract for this job with BTP, that paid $90,000 a year for it. BTP extended this contract twice — in 2015 and 2018. Carty signed these contracts for BTP.
Because CVE held shares in Actis, both Carty and Richardson received $18,250 in dividends.
Richardson played a role in all this by using his influence as a member of the parliamentary TEATT-committee that was charged with the supervision of BTP.
Carty and Richardson also demanded payment from Carl Critchlow, owner of construction company Talisien. The company paid $94,800 in exchange for a contract to do the repairs on the BTP-building on Cannegieter Street after it had been damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
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