Ames left SVG legally before warrant was issued – PM

Businessman Dave Ames, who it was widely believed had left the country last month, did in fact leave, but did so legally.

So said Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves during a media conference on Monday at the Cabinet room, where he also pointed out that from reports from the chief immigration officer, Ames left from the Chateaubelair port of entry.{{more}}

“The report that I got…said to me that he left the port of entry at Chateaubelair by boat for Martinique or somewhere…so he…actually left legitimately.”

On Tuesday, June 21, Ames was issued a summons to appear in court the next day to answer charges of theft and tax evasion, amounting to almost EC$7 million.

He did not show up on June 22, nor did he on June 23 and June 27, dates to which the case had been adjourned. On June 23, after Ames failed to turn up at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court to answer his charges, police issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

“There was no watch put at any port in respect of him going, because he was just charged and he was to come to the court,” said Gonsalves, explaining why Ames was allowed to leave the country.

“Now, if when the court had issued the…warrant for him, that warrant would have been… directed at all the ports of entry and exit, but he didn’t turn up to court. He left before the warrant itself was issued, so that is how that happened,” the Prime Minister said.

“When you summon someone to come to court, you don’t put a stop, because it is expected that he would come to court…and he has assets in the country.”

Additionally, the Prime Minister advised that a problem would have occurred if Ames had been served a warrant and still allowed to leave the state.

“Because it would have meant that the court and the immigration authorities would not have cooperated…. But in this case, he left before the warrant was issued,” Gonsalves stated.

The Prime Minister stated that he is looking forward to seeing what the prosecuting authorities would do in relation to the case against Ames, since he is not here to answer to the charges.

Ames was last publicly seen in St Vincent at the High Court in Kingstown, where the High Court of England and Wales was hearing a US$70 million claim for professional negligence brought by Harlequin Property SVG and Harlequin Hotels and Resorts Ltd against their former accountants and auditors Wilkins Kennedy. (CM)