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Counterattacks of bad management, politics mark Desulme testimony at Finsac commission of enquiry
Published: Friday | March 4, 2011 0 Comments
Stephen Shelton, lawyer representing PricewaterhouseCoopers and Richard Downer at the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry. - File
Dionne Rose, [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Business[/color][/color] Reporter Stephen Shelton, the lawyer for Price-waterhouseCoopers and Richard Downer, on Wednesday charged that Thermo Plastics was a company in deep financial trouble long before the takeover by its [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]banker[/color][/color] National Commercial Bank and, eventually, Jamaica Redevelopment Foundation Inc.
Shelton tried to counter statements made earlier by an emotional Jean-Marie Desulme who told the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry that politics was at the heart of the loss of the family [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]business[/color][/color], which was started by his father Thomas Desulme in the 1960s.
"How often since you have been the managing director of Thermo Plastics has the company been put into receivership?" asked Shelton.
Desulme replied that this occurred once in 1998, referring to the action taken by NCB.
But Shelton insisted this was not entirely true, which elicited from Desulme a reprimand of the lawyer.
"No, let me correct you; you told me that it's 'since I have been the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]managing[/color][/color] director'. That's what you said before, isn't that what you said?" demanded the Haitian, his voice rising and thick with his Haitian accent.
"You did not ask me how many times Thermo Plastic has been in receivership, you should ask the question properly," said Desulme.
He eventually admitted that the company was put into receivership two times, the other in 1977 under his father's leadership.
Shelton disclosed that the company owed debts to several banks including Trafalgar Development Bank, National Investment Bank of Jamaica and NCB.
He also quizzed Desulme on efforts by the company, prior to the takeover by NCB, to raise capital to pay overseas suppliers.
Financially weak
The lawyer also told the commission that the company, at the time of the takeover, was financially weak with the company having only a balance of J$14,000 in the bank.
"I'm suggesting to you that for this huge company that you were operating, that what you had as working capital, at the time that you were negotiating, you had J$14,000," he said.
But Desulme fired back that the company had millions of dollars in outstanding receivables.
"We might not have cash in the bank, but we had receivables coming in," he said.
Earlier on, Desulme told the enquiry that politics was the heart of the problem why Thermo Plastic failed, which he said was corroborated by Dr Omar Davies when he testified before the enquiry in 2009 that NCB was too big to fail.
Desulme said he pressed Davies on the issue of why NCB was too big to fail while Thermo Plastic, which had employed hundreds of workers, was allowed to go under.
"Mr Omar Davies replied to me, Desulme the problem with Thermo Plastic is your family, that's what he said, which corroborated exactly with the statement that Mr Dunbar McFarlane told me," he said.
A teary-eyed Desulme told the Commission of Enquiry that his family was forced into poverty when the company was put into receivership.
"The impact has been substantial to the immediate children; but for the grandchildren, many of them could not be supported in school because all the support was cut," he said, as he likened the family's treatment to that of the Holocaust where some six million Jews were killed by the dictator, Adolph Hitler.
Desulme said the family not only lost the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]business[/color][/color] but also properties that were sold, cash collected on behalf of the company and shares held in companies, such as The Jamaica Pegasus.
"Where are those shares?" he bellowed. "I have tried (to find them), and still making research."
Desulme said his father, who was a former minister of government in Haiti under the regime of Francois Duvalier, also known as 'Papa Doc', came to Jamaica as an investor where he opened a small factory in Kingston called Thermo Plastic, after selling his factory and all his belongings in Haiti.
The Thermo Plastics business eventually grew, and at the time of the take over employed some 600 persons.
Desulme said his family's lives were not only shattered, but the lives of many of the employees were affected.
"These people had a safety net. These women who sacrificed themselves," he said.
"These people don't deserve that ... political abuse," he added.
dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com
Published: Friday | March 4, 2011 0 Comments
Stephen Shelton, lawyer representing PricewaterhouseCoopers and Richard Downer at the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry. - File
Dionne Rose, [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Business[/color][/color] Reporter Stephen Shelton, the lawyer for Price-waterhouseCoopers and Richard Downer, on Wednesday charged that Thermo Plastics was a company in deep financial trouble long before the takeover by its [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]banker[/color][/color] National Commercial Bank and, eventually, Jamaica Redevelopment Foundation Inc.
Shelton tried to counter statements made earlier by an emotional Jean-Marie Desulme who told the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry that politics was at the heart of the loss of the family [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]business[/color][/color], which was started by his father Thomas Desulme in the 1960s.
"How often since you have been the managing director of Thermo Plastics has the company been put into receivership?" asked Shelton.
Desulme replied that this occurred once in 1998, referring to the action taken by NCB.
But Shelton insisted this was not entirely true, which elicited from Desulme a reprimand of the lawyer.
"No, let me correct you; you told me that it's 'since I have been the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]managing[/color][/color] director'. That's what you said before, isn't that what you said?" demanded the Haitian, his voice rising and thick with his Haitian accent.
"You did not ask me how many times Thermo Plastic has been in receivership, you should ask the question properly," said Desulme.
He eventually admitted that the company was put into receivership two times, the other in 1977 under his father's leadership.
Shelton disclosed that the company owed debts to several banks including Trafalgar Development Bank, National Investment Bank of Jamaica and NCB.
He also quizzed Desulme on efforts by the company, prior to the takeover by NCB, to raise capital to pay overseas suppliers.
Financially weak
The lawyer also told the commission that the company, at the time of the takeover, was financially weak with the company having only a balance of J$14,000 in the bank.
"I'm suggesting to you that for this huge company that you were operating, that what you had as working capital, at the time that you were negotiating, you had J$14,000," he said.
But Desulme fired back that the company had millions of dollars in outstanding receivables.
"We might not have cash in the bank, but we had receivables coming in," he said.
Earlier on, Desulme told the enquiry that politics was the heart of the problem why Thermo Plastic failed, which he said was corroborated by Dr Omar Davies when he testified before the enquiry in 2009 that NCB was too big to fail.
Desulme said he pressed Davies on the issue of why NCB was too big to fail while Thermo Plastic, which had employed hundreds of workers, was allowed to go under.
"Mr Omar Davies replied to me, Desulme the problem with Thermo Plastic is your family, that's what he said, which corroborated exactly with the statement that Mr Dunbar McFarlane told me," he said.
A teary-eyed Desulme told the Commission of Enquiry that his family was forced into poverty when the company was put into receivership.
"The impact has been substantial to the immediate children; but for the grandchildren, many of them could not be supported in school because all the support was cut," he said, as he likened the family's treatment to that of the Holocaust where some six million Jews were killed by the dictator, Adolph Hitler.
Desulme said the family not only lost the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]business[/color][/color] but also properties that were sold, cash collected on behalf of the company and shares held in companies, such as The Jamaica Pegasus.
"Where are those shares?" he bellowed. "I have tried (to find them), and still making research."
Desulme said his father, who was a former minister of government in Haiti under the regime of Francois Duvalier, also known as 'Papa Doc', came to Jamaica as an investor where he opened a small factory in Kingston called Thermo Plastic, after selling his factory and all his belongings in Haiti.
The Thermo Plastics business eventually grew, and at the time of the take over employed some 600 persons.
Desulme said his family's lives were not only shattered, but the lives of many of the employees were affected.
"These people had a safety net. These women who sacrificed themselves," he said.
"These people don't deserve that ... political abuse," he added.
dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com
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