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Judge issues gag order in CLICO case
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By CANDIA DAMES,
Guardian News Editor -
candia@nasguard.com:


Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Albury yesterday ordered that all publication related to the work of the CLICO Bahamas provisional liquidator cease.

Albury announced her decision after an attorney raised concerns about what had been carried in the press regarding the liquidation of the troubled insurance firm and activities of the liquidator, Craig Tony Gomez.

At the end of a hearing that was set to consider a winding up petition for the company, Albury put off the case until March 27.

She also said she expected to receive Gomez's report on the state of CLICO's finances by Friday.

The judge announced her decision after hearing arguments from various attorneys for more than an hour on how long the matter should be adjourned for. Damian Gomez, who represents a group of policyholders, said the public utterances of the liquidator only serve to drive down the value of CLICO's assets and threaten the court process. The court granted a winding up order on February 24 following a petition by the Registrar of Insurance Companies Lennox McCartney, and appointed Craig Tony Gomez provisional liquidator.

Yesterday's hearing was attended by a large group of attorneys and other interested parties, including several policyholders, the insurance registrar, the provisional liquidator and others.

Gomez, the attorney, said the court should not learn of the provisional liquidator's activities through the newspapers.

"We are somewhat disturbed by reports in the press that a certain creditor has been paid," said Gomez.

On Tuesday, the liquidator told The Nassau Guardian that the nearly $500,000 debt CLICO Bahamas owed to FirstCaribbean International Bank had been settled. But Sidney Cambridge, the liquidator's attorney, told the court that not everything that has been reported about the FirstCaribbean debt is true.

In court yesterday, Damian Gomez also said he was concerned to learn from the press that another creditor's application was being processed.

Gomez was referring to Guyanese officials who claim that CLICO Guyana has more than $30 million tied up in CLICO Bahamas. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told reporters on Monday that he had received certain documents from Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo purporting to support this claim.

Gomez reminded that the liquidator takes instructions from the court.

Emerick Knowles, who represents directors of CLICO Bahamas, said Damian Gomez should not be talking about what appeared in newspapers, but should present evidence.

The court also heard from attorneys Alfred Sears and Godfrey "Pro" Pinder, who represent a group of policyholders who attended a recent meeting at New Covenant Baptist Church, whose pastor, Bishop Simeon Hall, has an annuity tied up in the failed firm. Pinder and Sears are working pro bono.

Pinder said their basic concern is that they need full disclosure of all documents relating to this matter so that they would be able to properly advise their clients whether to support the winding up order.

"We will need enough time to go back to these people," he told the judge.

He also said, "We want the light of day to be shone on CLICO."

Pinder was pushing for an adjournment of 30 days, but Cambridge said there was a sense of urgency about the matter and suggested that that time frame would be too long. Sears suggested that there could be a compromise of 21 days.

He said in a liquidation of this nature where there are thousands of Bahamians scattered across the archipelago who have been impacted, there should be a reasonable amount of time to allow them to be properly notified about the matter.

Prime Miinister Ingraham revealed in Parliament earlier this month that the total individual and group policies of CLICO Bahamas amount to 38,618 with annual premiums of $14.8 million.

Sears said all parties with an interest in the case have a right to access the liquidator's report and learn the outcome of his investigation.

But Knowles, the CLICO directors' attorney, pushed for the matter to be dealt with expeditiously.

In reaching her decision, the judge said she took into account the concerns raised by Sears and Pinder, but she was satisfied that the matter required a certain urgency, and that no prejudice would come to the policyholders.

David Higgins of the Attorney General's Office represented the registrar of insurance companies; Sidney Collie represented Bahamasair Provident Fund as well as other policyholders; Diane Stewart represented FirstCaribbean and Glenys Hanna-Martin represented the Bahama Islands Resort Casino Cooperative Credit Union.

thenassauguardian

March 19, 2009 | 10:13 AM Comments  0 comments

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