By Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter 
Geddes
MARGIE GEDDES, the widow of the co-founder of Desnoes and Geddes Ltd. (now Red Stripe) Paul Geddes, has been ordered by the Supreme Court to pay US$12 million to a company set up to benefit Mr. Geddes' children and grandchildren. She is appealing against a court order freezing some of her assets and against a court order on January 16 that within the next 42 days Bardi Ltd., a company in which she owns 50 per cent of the shares must pay US$1.5 million into court. Mrs. Geddes had paid the money from a Jamaican bank account to Bastions Holdings Ltd., a Caymanian company of which her friend, Albun Whittaker, is an investor.
The assets in Bardi Ltd. remain frozen until Mrs. Geddes has paid the US$12 million to Jorril Financial Inc., a trust company in the British Virgin Islands established by Mr. Geddes for the benefit of his children and grandchildren.
Mr. and Mrs. Geddes were the only shareholders in Bardi Ltd.
After Mr. Geddes died at the age of 89 in June 1999, Jorril made a demand on Bardi Ltd for the assets. When its demand was not met, it sued Bardi Ltd. and summary judgment was entered against Bardi Ltd.
Mrs. Justice Norma McIntosh, in handing down her judgment, levied strong criticisms at Mrs. Geddes on the basis that she was not truthful during her testimony.
Bardi Ltd. has also been ordered to pay into court US$1.5 million which Mrs. Geddes had paid from a Jamaican bank account to Bastions Holdings Ltd. The money is to be paid within 42 days of the court order which was made on January 16 this year. Interest at 12 per cent is to be paid on the sum from January 22, 2002. The assets in Bardi Ltd. remain frozen until the US$12 million judgment has been honoured.
Bardi Ltd. and Bastion Holdings filed an appeal last week in which they are contending that the judge erred in her ruling when she refused to vary or modify the Mareva injunction which was granted on November 8, 1999.
Mr. Justice McIntosh, in refusing the application in January this year to vary the injunction, had said that the injunction "continues to apply to all stocks in Desnoes and Geddes Ltd. owned or held in the name of the first defendant (Bardi Ltd.) and to all bonus shares and dividends which have been paid or accrued in respect of such stocks since the grant of the injunction".
Mrs. Geddes is also asking the Court of Appeal to find that the judge erred when she made the order for US$12 million with interest at 12 per cent per annum from November 2, 1999 to the date of payment as claimed in the statement of claim on the ground that there was no defence to the claim.
Jorril has filed a counter appeal in which it claims that the judge was correct in her decision of January 16, 2003. Jorril said that the "only reasonable inference from the totality of the evidence particularly the evidence tendered on behalf of the appellants and elicited in the cross-examination of the first appellant's witnesses was that the agreement for sale of shares purportedly dated 1st October, 1999 was a sham and a fraud made between the appellants (Bardi Ltd. and Bastion) after the grant of the Mareva injunction on November 8, 1999 for the purpose of placing the first appellant's assets out of the reach of the respondent's claim and any judgment or order of the court resulting therefrom and for that reason illegal and unenforceable".
Jorril is asking the Court of Appeal to find that the agreement for the sale of the shares which was made by Bardi Ltd. and in particular its director and shareholder, Margie Geddes, is in contravention of the provision of section 51 of the Securities Act.
Mrs. Geddes is the executrix of Mr. Geddes' estate which was reported to be worth millions of dollars. The shares in Bardi Ltd. were 10 million shares in Desnoes and Geddes Ltd., worth about $7 per unit. Mr. Geddes prepared a series of promissory notes in 1994 and transferred them to Securities Trust and Management Services Ltd. to be held in trust. The notes were payable on demand on his death and Securities Trust endorsed the notes to Jorril.
When Jorril, the trust, made a demand on Bardi Ltd. for the assets, Bardi Ltd. failed to comply and Jorril sued Bardi Ltd.
Mrs. Geddes was strongly criticised in the judgment which Mrs. Justice McIntosh handed down on January 16. The judge found that Mrs. Geddes' attempt to sell the shares to Bastion Holdings Ltd. was not above board. It is my view that the material before me gives rise to some very serious concerns, particularly about the genuineness of the sales agreement", the judge said.
The judge, after reviewing Mrs. Geddes' evidence, said: The evidence is replete with instances where she did not immediately give direct answer to questions put and generally her demeanour was not that of a witness of truth. I recall here her attempt to explain her reason for not approaching the plaintiff company concerning the proposed sale. She recalled an instance during her husband's lifetime where his children had expressed a preference for cash instead of shares. I found this unconvincing.
Mrs. Geddes, an American, hit the local news in 1991 when at the age of 36, she married Mr. Geddes after he ended a 32-year common-law relationship with 67-year-old Helga Stoeckert, co-owner of Four Seasons Hotel, St. Andrew. Miss Stoeckert brought a palimony suit against Mr. Geddes for a half of his $600 million assets. The matter was finally decided by the United Kingdom Privy Council which dismissed Miss Stoeckert's appeal.
Bardi Ltd. had challenged Mr. Geddes signature on the promissory notes. Jorril met the challenge with an affidavit from attorney-at-law Monica Ladd who had prepared the notes on Mr. Geddes' instructions and witnessed their execution.
