The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Sharon Hicks is under investigation by the Police for demanding money with menace and fraud.

She is accused of demanding $200,000 from the owner of a security service as part of an alleged deal to ensure the security service continues to get contracts from the Ministry.

The Police received a complaint with details of the allegations and decided to set up a sting operation. Using marked money, the businessman was allowed to make the $200,000 payment to the Permanent Secretary.

She was arrested with the marked money in her possession and taken to CID headquarters where the allegations were laid before her and she was questioned about the allegations.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum confirmed this morning that the Permanent Secretary was indeed arrested but he explained that she was released on substantial station bail last evening and will return to the CID headquarters today to face further questioning.

Hicks was appointed as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs in October last year as the Government made several changes to the Ministries just after taking office.

She previously worked at the same Ministry as a Management Development Officer.

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