Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
THE GOVERNMENT-OWNED Financial Institutions Services (FIS) is now taking steps to value and sell the properties of former Century National Bank boss, Donovan Crawford, to recover its $2-billion debt.
A United Kingdom Privy Council ruling in October last year ended the long legal battle between FIS and Mr. Crawford. FIS had sued Mr. Crawford, his companies and some executive officers of the Century financial entities.
On February 2 Solicitor General Michael Hylton, Q.C., and attorneys-at-law Michele Champagnie and Carlene Larmond, who are representing FIS, went to the Supreme Court and got an order from Mr. Justice Lennox Campbell for agents of FIS to enter and inspect properties belonging to Mr. Crawford and his companies for the purpose of preparing valuations.
Attorney-at-law Francene Fletcher of the law firm Myers Fletcher and Gordon said in court documents that the exact sums due from Mr. Crawford, including interest on January 31, 2006, were just over $1.6 billion and US$63.5 million.
Fletcher noted that for ease of calculation, FIS had agreed to treat the various payments as having been made on the date of the judgment which was May 25, 1999, although most of the sums were in fact received at various dates after that.
PROPERTIES TO BE SOLD
The properties to be sold include apartments, homes and a number of empty lots in Swain Spring and Sterling Castle in Red Hills, as well as in downtown Kingston and Ocho Rios. Some of Crawford's properties are also owned jointly with his mother, Alma Crawford.
The Victoria Mutual Building Society has been ordered by the court to deliver to FIS a duplicate certificate of title in respect of Crawford's Swain Spring property and also discharge the mortgage.
Based on Justice Campbell's orders, Crawford will lose properties that he has on King Street, Peters Lane and has ordered that properties owned by Mr. Crawford should be sold.
The government will also dispose of a number of apartments and land in Ocho Rios, St. Elizabeth and Hanover.
Lands belonging to Regardless Ltd., which is one of Crawford's companies, are to be sold as well.
Based on the court ruling, lawyers representing FIS are authorised to retain professional services such as auctioneers and real estate agents to sell the properties either by private treaty or public auctions.
The Minister of Finance took control of the Century financial entities in 1996. A suit was filed in 1996 against Crawford, his companies, and Balmain Brown and Valton Caple Williams, executive officers of the Century financial entities. The Supreme Court handed down judgment against them and the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling.
Mr. Crawford took the case to the Privy Council which ruled against him in October last year. The Privy Council agreed with the submissions made by Solicitor General Michael Hylton that "it was a breach of fiduciary duty for a director of a bank to authorise substantial unsecured loans to companies in which he had an interest, and he should be ordered to repay those loans even though he did not guarantee them personally."
Correction & clarification
THE PHOTOGRAPH accompanying an article, “Government moves to sell Don Crawford’s property,” published on C2 of The Sunday Gleaner (February 12) and which featured Don Crawford and Audley Shaw incorrectly stated that Crawford was addressing guest at his Atlanta home last year. Both men were in fact at a function of mutual acquaintance. Mr. Crawford said that his lawyers are in discussion with the Government regarding a $1.6 billion court judgement.
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