Chin, who will now become a witness for the state, was bound over to appear in court on June 22 when the trial of Kern Spencer, the former junior energy minister in the People's National Party administration, and his co-accused Coleen Wright, in the Cuban light bulb case is expected to get under way.

Llewellyn said that the determination to drop the charges were "made in the interests of justice".

In a statement to the Half-Way-Tree Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, Llewellyn stated categorically that neither her nor anyone from her office had any discussions with any government parliamentarian regarding the case against Chin.

The DPP's comment was triggered by a letter from attorney Patrick Atkinson, Spencer's senior counsel, that the disclosure be made if there were any such discussions.

Following the withdrawal of the charges, Spencer's attorneys asked that the court instructs that all Government contracts granted to Chin and any of his companies be turned over to them, along with any information as to why the charges against Chin were dropped.

But the DPP said that she had already written to Chin's lawyer, Richard Small, asking that a list of all contracts to Chin by the Government for the past 20 years be handed over to the defence.

When asked by reporters about the relevance of Chin's government contracts to the case, Debra Martin, junior counsel for Spencer, said after the adjournment of yesterday's court sitting that the trial judge would have to make a determination as to Chin's credibility based on the information.

Spencer, Chin and Wright - Spencer's former executive assistant and supervisor at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica - were arrested and charged in February last year following a probe into the handling of a gift of four million Cuban light bulbs, which reportedly cost taxpayers well over $100 million to be distributed.

The Universal Management Company, operated by Chin was contracted to distribute the bulbs.

Chin is now freed of two counts of conspiracy to defraud, between July 2006 and September 2007, one count of corruption under Section 14(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, one count of money laundering and engaging in a transaction with criminal property (J$3.1 million) on July 30, 2007.