Contractor General Greg Christie yesterday announced that his office has launched a probe into allegations of "fraudulent activities" in the procurement of equipment by the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ).

The contractor general received documentation on Friday from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) setting out details of the allegations.

According to the Office of the Contractor General (OCG), the documents related to certain specified transactions, which were alleged to have been negotiated and or concluded with vendors or third parties based in Louisiana, Florida and Jamaica.

The OCG pointed out that the special investigation could extend to the general procurement practices of the SCJ.

"The contractor general has, today, written to Prime Minister Bruce Golding, advising him of his decision to cause a Special Investigation to be launched into the allegations," stated a release from the OCG yesterday.

Letters of notification, regarding the commencement of the investigation, were sent yesterday by Christie to the minister of agriculture, Chris Tufton, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Donovan Stanberry, the chairman of the SCJ, Robert Levy, the chairman of SCJ Holdings Ltd, Aubyn Hill, and the general manager of SCJ Holdings Ltd, John Gayle.