Attorney General Iver Stridiron said early Wednesday he was going to take a police officer to Brink's of Puerto Rico Inc. armored car service to get back the approximately $22,000 withheld by the security company this week.
He made good on his promise.
At approximately 10 a.m. Stridiron went to the Brink's location in Contant to retrieve the money. He was accompanied by police officers, a police captain and an attorney from his office.
Ronald Palmer, branch manager, said Brink's is owed $53,000 by four agencies. He had withheld the collected funds to force the government to pay what it owes, which he said is allowable under the contracts.
Palmer returned the money to Stridiron without incident, though his gun was removed by the police officers and returned upon their departure.
Stridiron called the seizure of money "outrageous and illegal" and said if the money was not returned, he would see to it that "someone will be arrested and prosecuted."
Stridiron said he has reviewed the contract with Brink's that was drawn up during the Schneider administration, but never signed.
He said a clause in the contract states that Brink's could keep money if it was owed by customers, but Stridiron said that clause would never have been accepted by the government.
Palmer said that the contracts Brink's holds are not with the government but rather with the separate agencies, and that they do allow for Brink's to withhold money from its customers if the company is not paid.
The four agencies are Vitran, the Finance Department, Bureau of Internal Revenue and both of the territory's hospitals. Palmer said Brink's will no longer provide service for the agencies that owe money.
Stridiron told Radio One the government will go back to using government enforcement officers to pick up and deposit cash.
