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A Supreme Court judge has cast doubt on the strength of the prosecution’s case against Michael Johnson, Bjorn Ferguson, and Sergeant Deangelo Rolle–three men accused of corruption in connection with a $1.4 million Bank of The Bahamas heist, after a forensic voice expert failed to link them to viral WhatsApp recordings that were important to the allegations.

What happened

According to the Nassau Guardian, Justice Dale Fitzpatrick questioned how prosecutors plan to prove their case against Johnson, the former head of CID, Ferguson, an attorney and Sergeant Rolle, saying, “I don’t know how the prosecution intends to prove its case.”

The case stems from the November 2023 theft of more than $1.4 million, allegedly stolen from a Toyota Harrier that was transporting money for the Bank of The Bahamas. Prosecutors claimed gang leader Fox, and others, bribed Johnson and Ferguson with part of the stolen money so that he wouldn’t face prosecution– and that the voice recordings circulating on WhatsApp tied the men to the crime.

But a forensic speech analyst from Lancaster University in the UK could not confirm that the voices belonged to the accused.

Why it matters

This development could severely weaken this high-profile corruption case and injure public trust in the justice system.

The judge said the analyst’s report “did the prosecution no good” and removed “a plank in the chain” of their argument.

The big picture

The expert confirmed the recordings were not AI-generated, but still couldn’t match them to Johnson, Ferguson, or Rolle.

The prosecution only plans to use the part of the report confirming the audio’s authenticity as not AI generated– but not the identity of individuals, a move the judge called “problematic.”

The DPP recently dropped charges against security guard Akeil Holmes, who was once accused of stealing the money and is now listed as their witness.

What’s next

The defense attorneys — including Murrio Ducille, KC, and Damian Gomez, KC — are likely to push for the case’s dismissal if prosecutors can’t establish a clear link between the recordings and the accused.

The bottom line

With no clear voice match, the prosecution’s case may be collapsing.

Six months after Chief Superintendent Michael Johnson was caught up in an alleged quid pro quo with two deceased gang members in circulated voice recordings, he along with well known attorney Bjorn Ferguson, and Sergeant Deangelo Rolle were charged in the Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday with crimes linked to the case.

Johnson faced these charges–conspiracy to commit bribery, abetment to stealing, receiving, and accessory after the fact. It was alleged during the arraignment that he stole $90,000, the property of the Bank of the Bahamas

Ferguson was charged with accessory after the fact, while Rolle was charged with abetment to stealing.

Here is a timeline of events before charges were filed:

July 2-3

Sylvers Metayer, a Bahamian man based in the United States, known to have a gripe with the Royal Bahamas Police Force, shared voice notes with alleged voices of Chief Superintendent Michael Johnson, officer-in-charge of the Criminal Investigation Department; a lawyer and two other men believed to be two gang members–Dino Smith and Michael Fox Jr, engaged in conversations about some type of financial exchange after a 1.4m heist.

Smith was killed in January and Fox was killed in May of 2024.

Another man connected to the heist was also later killed.

July 5

Free National Movement Chairman Duane Sands called for an investigation into the matter by international law enforcement partners– Scotland Yard or the FBI to oversee the investigation.

Police Commissioner at the time, Clayton Fernander appointed Chief Superintendent of Police Anthon Rahming as CID’s head in place of Johnson, promising an investigation into the matter led by the Security and Intelligence Branch (SIB) of the police force.

July 8

Fernander said Johnson was placed on ‘garden leave’ as authorities investigated the voice notes.

August 22

Fernander directed that police will no longer release statements regarding their investigation as public cries loudened for more details about the probe’s status.

Free National Movement Chairman Duane Sands soon criticized the police for their silence, calling for urgency to restore public trust.

August 28

Fernander announced that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) had joined the probe.

The investigators were expected to arrive on August 14 but did not.

September 19

Fernander promised that the probe would be completed by the end of 2024.

“I know there are a lot of folks saying that the police cannot investigate the police, but we have a dedicated area focusing on investigating police officers — trained officers,” Fernander said.

September 25

A document was shared on social media announcing that Johnson was transferred from CID to the organization’s headquarters in the office of the commissioner, as a formality.

Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings clarified that Johnson remained on leave.

“It’s a standard procedure,” she insisted.

December 31

Johnson resigned from the Royal Bahamas Police Force, as announced in a press release, which added that other officers were implicated in the investigation but their matter would be handed to the deputy commissioner of police with responsibility for discipline.

January 2, 2025

Fernander who was the out-going commissioner since announcing his resignation earlier in December, announced on the sidelines of the New Year’s Junkanoo Parade that police arrested and interviewed Johnson and Ferguson and that the men were released pending further inquiries as his office awaited the Director of Public Prosecutions’ review and recommendation in the matter.

“We took our time, the investigators took their time, and that’s how we got to where we are today,” Fernander said.

January 7, 2025

Johnson, attorney Bjorn Ferguson, and Sergeant Deangelo Rolle were charged in the Magistrates Court and were not required to enter pleas.

Johnson’s bail was set at $25,000 while Ferguson and Rolle’s bails were set at $7,500.

They will return to court on January 30.