Public Relief Board v. Massy et al.
Public Relief Board v. Massy et al., also known as the Public Relief Scandal of 1720 refers to a court case brought before the High Court of Aerla, relating to the misappropriation of Public Relief funds by Social Affairs Minister Robert Massy and 5 of his associates (Hugo Ball, Jamie Porter, Gabriel Kaur, Caleb Kelly, and Brandon Martin) to repay political favors. The case would gain infamy due to the President of Aerla, Henry Cassian, choosing to defend Massy as his council. Massy would eventually be found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison on bribery and corruption charges, while the political career would begin to spiral out of his control unto his retirement.
Background
In late 1719 AN, a series of emails belonging to the Minister of Social Affairs, Robert Massy, were leaked to the Justice Department that directly implicated Massy in using funds belonging to the Public Relief Board (the Aerlan welfare system) to repay several wealthy creditors for campaign funds. Upon further review of the emails, many other prominent officials in the Social Affairs Ministry were found to have also intercepted funds for the Public Relief Board and laundered them for their own purposes.
President Henry Cassian, a close personal friend of Massy since their time at the University of Noursala Law School, believed the Justice Department had no authority to charge Massy due to the nature of how the evidence was collected. He stated that due to evidence coming from a leak from inside the Ministry and not an official probe, the evidence was inadmissible in court. However, the Public Relief Board still chose to sue Massy on the charge of misappropriation of government funds. In a surprising move, Cassian chose to defend his friend and become his lawyer.
Early proceedings
Due to the nature of the charges brought against Massy and his associates, the Circuit Court of Noursala chose to defer the case directly to the High Court of Justice. Cassian’s first move was to attempt to have the case dismissed due to the manner of which the evidence was collected. He stated that under the provisions of the law, a legal probe of inquiry had to present concrete evidence of financial wrongdoing to the court. However, with Cassian being President, he could simply block any probe from inquiring Massy or his co defendants.
The case was subject to much media attention. This attention garnered the interest of the National Assembly. There was much outcry on the fact that any legal probe would be blocked by Cassian, with many calling it an abuse of Presidential power. Thus, the National Assembly motioned to form their own probe to investigate the defendants. The motion almost unanimously passed, with even members of Cassian’s faction in the Reform Block voting in favor. As expected, Cassian attempted to veto the motion, but his veto was overturned by a 2/3 majority vote.
National Assembly Probe
The probe, officially named the “Committee of Inquiry into the Misappropriation of Public Relief Funds” was formed after the vote, with opposition leader Joshua Gardner as its head. The committee issued a warrant for all financial files related to the defendant’s personal, business, and investment transactions.
The findings of the committee were published in an 854 page report (informally known by the media as the “Gardner Report”). The report did indeed find there was an extensive abuse of Public Relief funds, with Massy by far the worst offender. In total, Ƒ38.5 Million had been misappropriated, mostly by Massy, into stock funds belonging to political allies. The other worst offenders were Porter and Martin, who laundered the stolen money through investment firms into their own pockets.
Verdicts
| Defendant | Verdict | Sentence | Fine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Massy | Guilty | 25 Years | Ƒ50 Million |
| Jamie Porter | Guilty | 15 years | Ƒ25 Million |
| Brandon Martin | Guilty | 15 years | Ƒ25 Million |
| Caleb Kelly | Guilty | 5 years | Ƒ10 Million |
| Gabriel Kaur | Acquitted by insufficient evidence | N/A | N/A |
| Hugo Ball | Acquitted by insufficient evidence | N/A | N/A |
Aftermath
The case brought to light the heavy corruption that lay within the Aerlan bureaucracy. Waves of protests throughout the nation erupted calling for the resignation of several alleged corrupt politicians.
The case also brought upon the downfall of Henry Cassian’s political career. A picture of a man sympathetic to corruption had been painted. The case, along with other happenings would lead to Cassian’s resignation in mid 1720 AN.
