The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

THE US attorney for CLICO (Bahamas) liquidator yesterday said the move by the insolvent insurer's Trinidadian affiliate to examine his client appeared to be "an effort to circumvent" court proceedings in the Bahamas.

Responding to the subpoenas filed by Colonial Life Insurance Company (Trinidad) and its attorneys in the south Florida bankruptcy courts, which are seeking to examine Craig A. 'Tony' Gomez, the Baker Tilly Gomez accountant and partner, over funds recovered from the Wellington Preserve real estate project, Ronald Neiwirth said no one in the Bahamas was likely to be happy at this development.

Explaining that he had yet to take instruction from Mr Gomez and his Bahamian attorneys on how he should respond, Mr Neiwirth said of the Trinidad move: "It seems to me to be an effort to circumvent the proceedings that are active in the Bahamas."

That is a reference to CLICO (Bahamas) court-supervised liquidation by the Supreme Court. It is thought that Colonial Life Insurance Company (Trinidad) is seeking to prevent the $10 million recovered to-date from Wellington Preserve being "upstreamed for the benefit of Bahamian policyholders", and position itself at the front of the creditors queue to recover the $52.573 million promissory note it claims it is owned by CLICO (Bahamas) main subsidiary, CLICO Enterprises.

"There is no CLICO Enterprises proceeding over here, only Wellington Preserve and CLICO (Bahamas)," Mr Neiwirth added. "All this effort to get documents on CLICO Enterprises seems to me to be much better discussed with the courts and counsel in the Bahamas, because it's a Bahamian proceeding.

"I'm speculating, but I can't imagine that anyone over there [the Bahamas] is pleased with this."

Colonial Life Insurance Company (Trinidad) and its attorneys are also seeking a variety of documents involving CLICO (Bahamas) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bahamian-domiciled CLICO Enterprises, plus Wellington Preserve, the Florida-based real estate project that accounts for 63 per cent of the former's total assets.

In particular, the Trinidadian company and its attorneys are after all documents relating to a $52.573 million promissory note signed between itself and CLICO Enterprises on December 31, 2001, which was supposed to mature at year-end 2008. It is looking for documents on how the two Bahamian companies used the loan subject to the promissory note.

Elsewhere, it is also seeking documents detailing how CLICO Enterprises decided to place itself, and its $73 million claim, behind all others in relation to Wellington Preserve's bankruptcy.

And Colonial Life Insurance Company (Trinidad) also wants information on all offers received for Wellington Preserve's real estate, plus details of any transfers of the sum recovered from the project to-date to third parties.

Finally, the Trinidadian company and its attorneys are seeking copies of all documents and communications between the insolvent Bahamian insurer and its affiliates over how the initial $10 million recovery from Wellington Preserve, which has already been returned to the Bahamas for the benefit of creditors, has been used.