Cash Plus boss loses bid to take back company

Cash Plus boss loses bid to take back company
PAUL HENRY, Observer staff reporter henryp@jamaicaobserver.com
Saturday, July 26, 2008

THE bid by Cash Plus boss Carlos Hill to take back control of his company, which was placed into receivership in March, came to a crashing end in the Supreme Court yesterday.

A dapperly dressed Hill, in his court appearance yesterday, was powerless to act as his application to challenge the appointment of receiver/manager Kevin Bandoian’s appointment was taken over by the recently appointed liquidator of Cash Plus, L Monty Kanberkore, and withdrawn.

Kanberkore, who is so empowered as liquidator under the Companies Act, told the court that the action to challenge Bandoian’s appointment was not the best thing for creditors.
Kanberkore’s appointment as liquidator came last month as a result of an application in June by the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA) for the winding up of the Cash Plus Group.

The PLCA is seeking the winding up because of Cash Plus’ failure to honour an agreement reached last October for the sponsorship of the 2007/2008 Premier League Football Competition at more than $100 million. The PLCA is hoping to recover lost fund with the liquidation of Cash Plus’ assets.

Shortly after Bandoian’s appointment on March 31, lawyers acting on behalf of Cash Plus and Carlos Hill, filed the application to challenge the appointment on the ground that the law did not provide for an employee to make applications to place a company into receivership, as was done in this case. This, they said, could only be done by the company’s director, shareholders or creditor.

Bandoian’s appointment as receiver/manager followed several failed dates set by Hill to repay his approximately 40,000 lenders.

Meanwhile, the court will on September 30 hear applications from persons who want to intervene in the matter.

Olint boss sued

Olint boss sued
Two claimants seeking US$3 million
PAUL HENRY, Observer staff reporter editorial@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, July 25, 2008

Two disgruntled members of the foreign exchange trading club Olint have filed suits against principal David Smith to recover just over US$3 million they say they have invested with the embattled entity.

The men are seeking damages for “fraudulent representation” and a court order to trace Smith’s assets into the hands of any third party.

Claimant Christopher Walker, a medical practitioner of St Andrew, is seeking to recover close to US$2.5 million plus interest, while businessman Micheal Belcher is suing to recover US$800,000 plus interest.

The suits filed in the Supreme Court on Monday by the law firm Heart Muirhead Fatta come after news broke last week that some of Smith’s assets have been frozen in the Turks and Caicos Islands as part of a probe into allegations of financial crime.

Smith had last year moved Olint’s base from Jamaica to the Turks and Caicos Islands due to pressure from the Financial Services Commission, which in 2006 served the unregulated entity with cease and desist orders.

Just last week, Smith issued a press release urging members to be patient as the club conducted an audit of members’ accounts and balances. Smith also said in the release that all things being equal he would be able to start making payments to club members in another nine months.

In a legal victory for the club, the Court of Appeal ruled last Friday that Olint’s accounts with the National Commercial Bank are to remain open, pending a trial to determine whether the bank is within its rights to close the accounts.

Some questions for David Smith

Some questions for David Smith
published: Wednesday | July 23, 2008
Publish By Jamaica Gleaner

The Editor, Sir:

Having read the latest reports relating to David Smith and Olint, please permit me space to make a few observations, along with publicly asking Mr Smith and his lawyers a few questions, especially now when Mr Smith appears to be in communicado.

Having given club members a detailed payment schedule of how monies owed would be repaid, is it not coincidental that his assets were ‘frozen’ the very next business day after payments were to have commenced? A cynical mind would see this as great timing to Smith’s benefit as it buys him time and allows him to again blame a third party for his inability to pay.

Cliff Hughes read an email on Nationwide which he stated was allegedly written by David Smith to his wife Tracey in which the writer stated, among other things, that Olint was unable to pay its club members at present and had been less than forthright in earlier dealings. Smith called into the programme to deny that he was the author of any such email after which Hughes stuck to guns.

Why is it that David Smith needed a high-level legal team to make a statement to his club members? Having heard that his legal team was en route to meet with him, I, for one, anticipated a statement about the probe in his business affairs and was shocked to see that the only substance emanating from their statement was that club members would have to wait at least another nine months to receive payments.

Notwithstanding the above, if it is true that Smith and Olint had the money to repay all members as he has constantly stated two weeks ago, why is the nine months needed? One would simply have expected a statement saying that once the assets were no longer frozen, he would revert to the last payment plan he put forth. Again, where has this nine months come from?

The statement said that Mr and Mrs Smith have never “used” club members’ money for their “personal” use. Fair enough, but it makes no mention of whether Olint has sufficient money to cover its liabilities although, I suppose, the extra nine months being mentioned suggest it does not. If that is true, where is the money?

David Smith, now more than ever, needs to come out and communicate with his club members and provide the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Hiding behind statements put forth by high-powered legal teams is not the way to go and will only foster further distrust and speculation.

Many have made millions due to Smith and Olint and if bad decisions, or bad transactions, resulted in the club having lost money we need to know.

We need to hear from Smith, who clearly is not shy of the press as proven by the many photo ops, and interviews, given in the past.

Over to you, Mr Smith!

I am, etc.,

DESIREEN LAWRENCE

dessieinjamdown@yahoo.com

Grenada affected by OLINT’s fall

Grenada affected by OLINT’s fall
Thursday, 24 July 2008
Publish by Radio Jamaica
Head of OLINT, David Smith. The problems facing the David Smith-led investment scheme OLINT Limited are having a ripple effect elsewhere in the region.

SGL Holdings Incorporated, an investment firm based in Grenada, is reportedly experiencing difficulty paying clients due to the freezing of OLINT’s assets.

An internet posting out of Grenada said during a meeting with the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, SGL Holdings officials advised that until OLINT’s problems are addressed they will not be able to make any payments.

SGL said efforts are being made to ascertain from the authorities in the Turks and Caicos Islands the status of investigations into OLINT’s operations.

It has also been revealed that in May, SGL was directed to cease and desist from conducting securities business as it did not have a licence.

SGL ceased accepting new deposits and was in the process of preparing an application to the Grenada Authority for the Regulation of Financial Institutions.