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Campbell denies preference for politicians as FINSAC enquiry ends

Published:Friday | November 4, 2011 | 12:00 AM
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Chairman of the FINSAC Enquiry, Worrick Bogle (second right), consults with Fernando Deperalto (standing), secretary of the commission, and Commissioner Charles Ross, at the February 22 sitting of the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry, held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston. Legal adviser to the commission, Justice Henderson Downer, is at right. - File Photos
FINSAC general manager Errol Campbell.
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Errol Campbell, general manager of FINSAC Limited, said Wednesday that he found no records suggesting that politicians were given special treatment in the handling of their bad debts by the company.

"They were treated like normal debtors," Campbell told the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry, at its final sitting at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston.

However, under questioning by Commissioner Charles Ross, the FINSAC head admitted that the records did indicate that there were discussions at the bailout agency in the 1990s about a special policy for debts owed by politicians.

"It appears there were discussions, Mr Chairman," he told FINSAC Commission Chairman Worrick Bogle, but insisted that the records show that no policy was agreed and it was decided, eventually, to treat them like "normal debtors".

The response from the FINSAC boss, however, seemed to have raised concerns among debtors attending the sitting, as well as Ross, especially in light of a statement from former Cabinet minister Dr Karl Blythe, that he had been informed by the late Dennis Joslin - the American investor who eventually bought the bad debts from FINSAC - that the Ministry of Finance and Planning would have to sign off on any adjustment to his loans.

Blythe testified at the enquiry that he was told by Joslin: "I have been instructed that when it comes to any adjustments in your debts, the Ministry of Finance, as well as FINSAC, would have to agree."

Ross alluded to a policy document on how the debts of politicians should be handled, which was brought during the hearings.

Campbell said "it appeared" that while there were discussions on a policy allowing the Ministry of Finance and Planning to sign off on those loans, it was eventually decided to leave the determinations to the FINSAC board.

At the close of the sitting, Bogle said it would be the last public hearing, although he admitted there were a number of outstanding documents, including submissions from attorneys in the enquiry.

Asked by JIS News how soon he felt a report would become available, Bogle said he did not wish to disclose a time frame, but that he was "hopeful" it would be before the end of the year.

The commission was established in October 2008, and has been sitting since September 2009 suffering several delays in the interim, including court challenges. The original chairman, retired Justice Boyd Carey, was disqualified by the court in 2010, because he was considered a FINSAC debtor.

Carey filed an appeal, contending that the court erred in its decision, but the appeal failed. Since then Bogle and Ross, both original members of the commission, have carried on the enquiry.

They were assisted by secretary to the commission Fernando Deperalto and legal adviser Justice Henderson Downer.

The commission was appointed to probe the collapse of the financial sector in the 1990s and the resulting treatment of debtors whose loans and assets were taken over by FINSAC.

- JIS