Law enforcement is investigating serious allegations involving United Workers Party (UWP) candidate Guy Joseph, who was found with a large sum of cash in close proximity to a polling station.
Reports indicate that police seized a significant amount of money from Joseph amid allegations of vote-buying.
On Monday (December 1), Joseph confirmed that law enforcement confiscated $12,000 from him after accusations surfaced of him paying individuals to vote in his favor.
Senior police officials report that they acted on a complaint regarding the former minister’s alleged distribution of money to influence voters on Election Day. Officers approached Joseph at a residence near the polling station based on this information.
Despite the circumstances, Joseph appeared on the mid-afternoon talk show News spin, where he acknowledged the incident but vehemently denied any intention to bribe voters. He insists that he was not within the boundary of the polling station or engaging in illegal activities when confronted by the police.
According to Joseph, he was in a private yard and not near the polling station.
When questioned by the officers about the cash in his possession, Joseph recounted their words: “You have two choices. Either you give us the money, and you can get it back after 6 p.m., based on the suspicion of the report, or you can be arrested and taken down.”
Joseph responded, “I didn’t know it was illegal for people to have money in their pocket.”
He maintains that this encounter is politically motivated and firmly denies any wrongdoing.
While police have yet to reveal whether charges will be filed, they confirmed that the investigation is on-going as part of broader efforts to monitor election-day activities. The UWP has not yet issued an official statement regarding this incident.
In another incident, also not yet addressed by the UWP, Castries South candidate Tommy Descartes was reportedly engaged in a similar situation with police. The yet unconfirmed reports indicate that Descartes and two other individuals were taken in for questioning in connection with a sum of money reportedly around EC$30,000.
The matter, which is also reported of being carefully investigated, is expected to be addressed by the Royal St. Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) later this week.
Both Joseph and Descartes lost their bid to secure the Castries Southeast and Castries South seats, respectively. Descartes, the political newcomer, entered the electoral race in an effort to unseat Ernest Hilaire while Guy Joseph was seeking to regain his Castries Southeast seat after loosing it to Joachim Andre Henry in 2021.