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Barbara Gayle, Justice Coordinator
Sandals Resorts International 2000 Ltd in The Bahamas has filed a motion in the Bahamian Supreme Court seeking to bar Queen's Counsel K.D. Knight from representing Jeffrey Pyne, a former employee of Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, chairman of the Sandals Group.
Pyne is being sued by Sandals for allegedly making US$1.6 million in political donations in The Turks and Caicos Islands.
Knight told The Gleaner yesterday that he should have gone to The Bahamas yesterday to represent Pyne in the case tomorrow.
He said he was informed that Sandals had filed a motion in court seeking to prevent him from appearing in the case on the grounds that he was not a fraud-case specialist.
Knight said it did not make any sense for him to leave the island since the hearing of the motion is pending.
He said if the case had gone ahead tomorrow as planned, he was going to make an application to have the case against Pyne thrown out. He said one of the issues he was going to raise was that The Bahamas was not the proper venue for the case.
Knight said, so far, he was not aware that a date had been set for the hearing of the motion to bar him from appearing in the case.
CLEARED BY BAR COUNCIL
He explained that a few weeks ago, the Bar Council in The Bahamas had given him permission to appear in the Bahamian court to represent Pyne. He said it was at the last moment that Sandals was seeking judicial review on the grounds that "I am not a fraud-case specialist".
In his affidavit, Stewart alleged that, as a director and treasurer, Pyne breached his fiduciary responsibility by wiring funds without permission to The Turks and Caicos Islands.
The action, filed on June 30 this year, is alleging that Pyne caused the Bahamian company and another Sandals entity to make a series of seven unauthorised wire transfers to three Turks and Caicos-based companies between March 3, 2005, and October 26, 2006.
Sandals Resorts International 2000, in its statement of claim, is alleging that the seven wire transfers, totalling US$1.65 million, "were not made for any legitimate commercial or other purpose of the plaintiff's business or interests".
Sandals is seeking the return of its allegedly missing money, either through the recovery of the original funds or compensation from Pyne.
However, Pyne is contending that in his capacity as managing director of Gorstew Ltd, of which Stewart and his son Adam are among the directors, he cannot recall agreeing to serve as a director of the plaintiff/claimant company, that is Sandals.
Yesterday evening, The Gleaner was unable to contact representatives of Sandals for comments.
Pyne and two former executives are charged in Jamaica with conspiracy to defraud the Appliance Traders Limited (ATL) Group Pension Fund and Gorstew Ltd. The trial is set to start in November in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court. The other accused are Patrick Lynch and Catherine Barber.
The three accused have denied the allegations that they used forged documents to defraud the pension fund.
barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com
Sandals Resorts International 2000 Ltd in The Bahamas has filed a motion in the Bahamian Supreme Court seeking to bar Queen's Counsel K.D. Knight from representing Jeffrey Pyne, a former employee of Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, chairman of the Sandals Group.
Pyne is being sued by Sandals for allegedly making US$1.6 million in political donations in The Turks and Caicos Islands.
Knight told The Gleaner yesterday that he should have gone to The Bahamas yesterday to represent Pyne in the case tomorrow.
He said he was informed that Sandals had filed a motion in court seeking to prevent him from appearing in the case on the grounds that he was not a fraud-case specialist.
Knight said it did not make any sense for him to leave the island since the hearing of the motion is pending.
He said if the case had gone ahead tomorrow as planned, he was going to make an application to have the case against Pyne thrown out. He said one of the issues he was going to raise was that The Bahamas was not the proper venue for the case.
Knight said, so far, he was not aware that a date had been set for the hearing of the motion to bar him from appearing in the case.
CLEARED BY BAR COUNCIL
He explained that a few weeks ago, the Bar Council in The Bahamas had given him permission to appear in the Bahamian court to represent Pyne. He said it was at the last moment that Sandals was seeking judicial review on the grounds that "I am not a fraud-case specialist".
In his affidavit, Stewart alleged that, as a director and treasurer, Pyne breached his fiduciary responsibility by wiring funds without permission to The Turks and Caicos Islands.
The action, filed on June 30 this year, is alleging that Pyne caused the Bahamian company and another Sandals entity to make a series of seven unauthorised wire transfers to three Turks and Caicos-based companies between March 3, 2005, and October 26, 2006.
Sandals Resorts International 2000, in its statement of claim, is alleging that the seven wire transfers, totalling US$1.65 million, "were not made for any legitimate commercial or other purpose of the plaintiff's business or interests".
Sandals is seeking the return of its allegedly missing money, either through the recovery of the original funds or compensation from Pyne.
However, Pyne is contending that in his capacity as managing director of Gorstew Ltd, of which Stewart and his son Adam are among the directors, he cannot recall agreeing to serve as a director of the plaintiff/claimant company, that is Sandals.
Yesterday evening, The Gleaner was unable to contact representatives of Sandals for comments.
Pyne and two former executives are charged in Jamaica with conspiracy to defraud the Appliance Traders Limited (ATL) Group Pension Fund and Gorstew Ltd. The trial is set to start in November in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court. The other accused are Patrick Lynch and Catherine Barber.
The three accused have denied the allegations that they used forged documents to defraud the pension fund.
barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com