FSC withdraws claim against SSL founder Hugh Croskery

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has discontinued its claim against Hugh Croskery, founder of the fraud-hit Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL)

Lawyers representing the FSC made the announcement today when the matter came before the Supreme Court.

Croskery was the third defendant in the claim.

The FSC had claimed that Croskery and other SSL directors breached the FSC's directives by appointing a trustee on January 16, a day before the FSC took temporary management of the investment firm. 

However, Croskery in his defence filed by King's Counsel Peter Champagnie and attorney-at-law Neco Pagon, claimed that his association with the company “had never at any point involved any conduct on his part that would be a breach of his responsibilities as a director, or be a breach of any regulatory legislation, civil or otherwise”.

Croskery and several other directors were named as defendants in the suit, which was filed in January. 

Champagnie says Croskery is "obviously relieved and very much comforted by this outcome".

"Our client guards his sterling reputation within the financial sector which he has developed over a number of decades. The case was discontinued without any orders as to costs and this was agreed upon by the respective parties," he told The Gleaner. 

The FSC, which regulates investment houses, argued in court documents that the defendants were "refusing to cooperate; effectively hindering the claimant (FSC) in carrying out its functions" and the appointment of the trustee “will have serious repercussions” for clients.

“If this were allowed to happen, the claimant anticipates that the 1st Defendant's (SSL) clients will not recover their funds and/or assets, if the company is dissolved," said Donia Fuller-Barrett, an attorney at FSC. 

The trustee, Caydion Campbell, has insisted that he was properly appointed, which if accepted by the court, would dislodge the FSC's role. 

The trial is set for February next year. 

Former SSL wealth advisor Jean-Ann Panton is the only person charged in the alleged $5 billion fraud that includes money fleeced from sports legend Usain Bolt. 

-Barbara Gayle

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