The police say they have ended the ongoing probe into allegations that former member of Parliament, the late Joseph Hibbert had breached the Corruption Prevention Act.

In a statement yesterday, the police said "this statement confirms that the police no longer have an interest in carrying out further probes into allegations of breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act by the late Joseph Hibbert. This decision was taken in light of Mr Hibbert's recent passing."

Hibbert, a former state minister in the Ministry of Transport and Works in the previous JLP administration, died of a heart attack last weekend.

Up to the time of his death the police were actively engaged in their investigations around the allegations made against Hibbert.

The police had initially submitted a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions but the DPP requested additional evidence from another jurisdiction (the UK) to support a criminal prosecution. Consequently, arrangements were being made for JCF investigators to visit the UK under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to interview witnesses and secure the additional evidence to support a criminal prosecution in Jamaica.

A complex process

The statement added: "The ability of the police to pursue investigation under MLAT is dependent on the administrative intervention of the central authority, the DPP, who would facilitate the process by making the necessary contact with the receiving country. This is normally a complex and lengthy process.

"Given that Mr Hibbert, the only subject of the probe, is now deceased, there is no need for further investigations into the matter, as there is no likelihood of criminal prosecution being proffered."

Hibbert was also a technical director in the Ministry of Transport and Works before entering representational politics.

However, Hibbert's political career ended abruptly after British bridge-building company, Mabey & Johnson, claimed in the United Kingdom it had paid him kickbacks.

Hibbert, who denied the 2009 claims, subsequently resigned as junior minister and did not offer himself as a candidate in the last general election.