Fri, Mar 20, 2015

The 15-page forensic audit report on CLICO, which has been at the centre of a long legal battle, is now a public document.

On March 10, Justice William Changler of the Barbados High Court gave the green light for the report to be made available to the public, after listening to several months of arguments over whether or not the report should remain sealed.{{more}}

“The order is in keeping with the judicial manager’s commitment made to the court and the policyholder’s representatives,” attorney at law Ramon Alleyne, of the law firm Clarke, Gittens & Farmer, told the MIDWEEK NATION, minutes after the High Court ruled in favour of the judicial manager Deloitte Consulting Ltd.

Alleyne disagreed with the submission that the release of the report could hamper the future of any attempt to revive the beleaguered insurance company.

The judicial manager had applied to the court to unseal the report and contended that any restriction of access should only be permitted to the extent necessary in the interest of justice.

The Fair Trading Commission (FTC), led by attorney at law Adrian King, had objected to the application.

June Fowler, chairperson of Barbados Investors and Policyholders Alliance (BIPA), the umbrella body of CLICO policyholders which is trying to recover investments, said the release of the report was needed for transparency in the whole process.

“We are happy that the report has finally been released and hopefully we can obtain a copy soon for our records. I think the report is going to disappoint a lot of people.

“I keep saying that the judicial manager has always said that they never did an in-depth audit because it would take too long and the costs would be horrendous,” Fowler said.

Yesterday’s latest development in the CLICO saga followed the High Court’s freezing the assets of former boss Leroy Parris and his company Branlee Consulting Services to the tune of $4.5 million.

The successful application by the judicial manager also named the estate of late Prime Minister David Thompson, represented by his widow Mara Thompson, the executrix, as the third defendant in the court action.

(The full report may be downloaded from www.searchlight.vc)