Say when Clico policyholders will be paid

Given the liquidator’s rejection of Clico (Guyana)’s US$34M investment in Clico (Bahamas), the PNCR has called on the Bharrat Jagdeo administration to say when it will honour its commitment to the affected policyholders and contributors of the company.

PNCR leader Robert Corbin said during a recent press conference that the government needed to say “how and in what manner” the administration will honour its guarantee to the thousands of persons affected by the collapse of the insurance company. “Today, affected persons are still unaware of the arrangements, timing and procedures that would be used to honour the government’s guarantee,” Corbin said. He called on the government to “inform the nation urgently on these matters and deal with this issue in an open and transparent manner.”

He pointed to reports of the government receiving millions of dollars from several sources to pay the money due to policy holders, including US$15M from the Caricom Petroleum Fund. Corbin also referred to the account established at the Bank of Guyana (BoG) which was set up to keep funds meant to pay the clients of the company.

President Jagdeo has said on several occasions that the government is waiting on the court to grant the liquidation order for the insurance company before it begins to pay out the company’s customers.

Corbin has also called on the President “to strive to be the champion of the people” and not “to hide behind the excuse of on-going Court proceedings.” He said that there is evidence that shows that the company spends millions of policyholders’ funds to pay the management and staff still attached to the company. Corbin also rebuffed the administration for rejecting every call for an investigation into the company despite the rumours about the misuse of money from the company prior to its financial difficulty.

The President has rejected calls from the PNCR and civil society for a criminal probe into the affairs of Clico (Guyana), on the grounds that this would serve no purpose. Jagdeo has said an audit conducted showed no evidence of criminality but rather “bad investments” on the part of the company’s managers.

Clico (Guyana)’s chances of recovering any of its US$34 million invested in Clico (Bahamas) continue  to look glum as the Bahamian liquidator Craig Gomez rejected the local company’s claim, a recent report in the Bahamian newspaper The Tribune said. Gomez had also rejected a US$15.5 million claim submitted by Clico (Suriname) and pledged to “call on” the $58 million guarantee its Trinidadian parent company to cover any shortfall in sums due to policyholders and creditors.

In the article, Gomez is quoted as saying that “After further consultation, I have rejected the…claims received from Guyana and Suriname. My preliminary view of the documentation suggests that policies were never issued by [Clico Bahamas]. Moreover, the premiums received by Guyana and Surinam were never paid to [Clico Bahamas].”

Further Gomez reportedly said that “it appears that the funds were remitted directly to a bank account held in the name of Clico (Bahamas) at Ocean Bank, Miami Florida, and to another account held by the company in Trinidad.

The liquidator said he had subpoenaed records from the Ocean Bank branch, and that he would do the same in Trinidad, to determine how the funds were used. “The inference from this report is that, rather than being invested in annuity policies, the funds from Guyana and Suriname went to advance the interests of CL Financial and its head, Lawrence Duprey, in the Florida real estate ventures, or were used for some other purpose,” the article said.