A magistrate yesterday ruled that there is no evidence to implicate former Democratic National Alliance (DNA) MICAL candidate Delano Munroe in the $15,000 theft of Junior Achievement (JA) Bahamas funds.

On Monday, Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans ruled that Mr. Munroe had no case to answer in the matter of the missing funds.

Mr. Munroe, who was the longest serving programme manager for Junior Achievement Bahamas, was charged on October 17 with stealing by reason of employment.

Police alleged at the time that Mr. Munroe collected funds on JA’s behalf without authorisation.

The complaint about the missing funds was made in March 2011.

This case was set as a preliminary inquiry and had been going on from October 2011.

In addition to her ruling, Magistrate Vogt-Evans urged the Junior Achievement Program to seek out the appropriate person(s) who may be responsible for the missing funds, because there was no evidence put before the court to implicate Mr. Munroe.

Mr. Munroe had to forfeit his nomination to run as a candidate in the May 7, 2012 General Election because of the court matter.

He had always maintained his innocence despite the allegations.

“Mr. Munroe requests that now that the court of law has vindicated him of these allegations that the Bahamian people would also vindicate him and not judge him in the court of public opinion,” a statement to the media said yesterday.

“As for Mr. Munroe, he will continue to build his life, build the community and focus on his family. Mr. Munroe has instructed his legal team to pursue Junior Achievement and the Ministry of Youth, Sports & Culture to seek all amicable resolution to restoring his character and financial losses during this process.”

Attorneys Ramona Farquharson-Seymour and Calvin Seymour defended Mr. Munroe in this case.