The leadership of Jamaica's governing party acknowledged Thursday that it received $1 million from a high-profile swindler who defrauded thousands of people across the Caribbean and the United States, but said it doesn't believe it is obligated to refund a cent.
The People's National Party said it spent the $1 million it received from David Smith during the 2007 campaign for national elections, but its investigators found no records of another alleged gift of $2 million.
Ruling party chairman Robert Pickersgill said party leaders don't believe they have to pay back the money to help roughly 6,000 bilked investors recoup their losses with Smith's Olint investment club because he had not been revealed as a crook at the time the $1 million check was received.