Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
TWO FORMER directors of the collapsed Dyoll Insurance Company Ltd. have been charged with breaches of the Insurance Act.
They appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday along with Mark Thwaites, 47-year-old former chief executive officer of the insurance company. Mr. Thwaites was charged in July this year, while the others were charged on Wednesday.
The other two accused are Catherine Parke-Thwaites, wife of Mark Thwaites and James Morrison. They are on bail and have been ordered to return to court on November 17.
It is being alleged that they failed to provide information to the Financial Services Commission, the regulatory body for insurance companies and financial institutions.
The Thwaiteses are being represented by Winston Spaulding, Q.C., and attorney-at-law Linton Walters, while Morrison is represented by attorney-at-law Charles Williams.
Mr. Williams told Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle yesterday that he was shocked that Morrison was charged because Morrison was appointed to the board of the insurance company a few weeks before Hurricane Ivan struck in September last year.
Mr. Thwaites was arrested and charged on July 14 by members of the Financial Investigation Division (FID). He has been accused of violating Section 147 of the Insurance Act of 2001. He has been accused of recklessly supplying false information under the provisions of the act. Further allegations are that he also failed to comply with directives that were given on December 17, 2004, by the FSC.
HURRICANE IVAN CLAIMS
Reports are that Dyoll's problems began late last year following a deluge of claims arising from property damage as a result of Hurricane Ivan. The vast majority of the claims originated in the Cayman Islands, amounting to $850 million, and contributed to the company's deficit of $1.1 billion, wiping out its capital base.
The Supreme Court granted an order in June this year winding up the insurance company, because the claims by policyholders exceeded its reinsurance limits.
Attorneys-at-law Richard Small and Phillip Sutherland are prosecuting.
