The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Freeport church asserted it would be “totally compromised” if its bank deposits were seized to satisfy a $776,000 judgment despite owning a 60-strong, mortgage-free real estate portfolio.

A sceptical Chief Justice, in an April 10, 2024, verdict, issued a final third-party debt order requiring Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) to hand over $250,000 sitting in bank accounts belonging to the Incorporated Trustees of the St John’s Particular Church of Native Baptists to satisfy a Supreme Court award to Bishop Godfrey R. Williams.

While the Incorporated Trustees had issued dire warnings that their church’s very existence would be endangered if such an award was made, Sir Ian Winder noted that they had made no effort to “leverage” their real estate empire - which includes properties with multiple buildings, and 11 in New Providence alone - to satisfy the award to Bishop Williams.

Noting that the Incorporated Trustees had admitted to owning other bank accounts besides those set to be garnished at RBC, as well as having access to unused overdraft facilities, the Chief Justice signalled that he was unimpressed with their pleadings of poverty and ruin.

Yet Sir Ian, while agreeing that “profit may not be the appropriate term for a church business” in describing the $48,000 “surplus” that Incorporated Trustees earned in 2023, showed mercy to the latter by setting the debt order at $250,000 so that they are “not crippled” and can continue to operate and satisfy the two-thirds of Bishop Williams’ award balance that remains outstanding.

The judgment award stems from a 15-year unholy battle between the Incorporated Trustees and Bishop Williams, and his Godfrey R. Williams Ministries, over the land upon which the 2,500 seat mega Freeport “cathedral”, St John’s Jubilee Cathedral, now sits.

The battle, which has its roots in events dating back as far as the 1980s, ensnared both the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) and two of its subsidiaries that are Freeport’s largest landowners, the Grand Bahama Development Company (DevCO) and Freeport Commercial and Industrial.

Among those featuring in the November 16, 2021, ruling by then-senior justice Estelle Gray-Evans, although not as defendants, were the late Edward St George, the GBPA’s then-co-chair, and Bishop Neil Ellis and his Full Baptist group. And the law firm that handled the conveyances at the root of the dispute was Christie, Davis & Co, now just Davis & Co, the law firm of the current - as well as a former - Bahamian prime minister.

Senior justice Gray-Evans ultimately dismissed every claim made by the plaintiff, the Incorporated Trustees, and found in favour of Bishop Williams and his ministries. The latter was awarded legal costs of $589,907 on November 17, 2022, but this sum together with interest worth $86,769 - which is increasing by $101.01 every day - remains unpaid.

This led Bishop Williams to seek a third-party debt order from the Supreme Court against RBC (Bahamas), which held the Incorporated Trustees’ bank accounts, in a bid to cover at least a portion of what was awarded to him. He alleged that the latter’s accounts held a combined $197,956, while another $110,666 was contained in a fixed deposit, thereby making for a combined sum of over $308,000.

“The debtor has not paid anything on the judgment debt,” Sir Ian wrote of the Incorporated Trustees. “The debtor does not dispute the debt and acknowledges that it is due and owing.” However, the Incorporated Trustees alleged it would be “inequitable” to seize their assets and use them to part-satisfy what is due to Bishop Williams.

The Incorporated Trustees had argued they “cannot satisfy the debts in full” from the sums in RBC’s accounts, adding: “It would be inequitable to jeopardise the operations of the judgment debtor, the members of the judgment debtor’s churches and the public at large.”

Reverend Carrington Pinder, the Incorporated Trustees’ bishop and superintendent, alleged in his witness statement that “it would be impossible to satisfy the debt in full without a payment plan”. He added that they had made “a good faith offer to settle” involving a $20,000 lump sum payment up-front and “bi-monthly” payments of $7,000, which was rejected.

The lump sum was equal to just 2.6 percent of the total owed, but Bishop Pinder alleged that ordering payment of the award full would leave the Incorporated Trustees “totally compromised and unable to operate or meet its financial and other obligations” despite the income earned from donations, tithes and general offerings. He added that the church had been “severely prejudiced” from RBC freezing its accounts.

Bishop Pinder alleged that $182,918 was contained in the Incorporated Trustees’ operating account with RBC as at November 21, 2023. Bishop Williams, though, countered that the non-payment meant he has “been forced to carry the cost of the litigation” for 12 years due to the legal fees paid to his attorneys.

He also branded the Incorporated Trustees’ payment offer as a “red herring”, and accused them of “misrepresenting” this as it involved regular payments of $7,000 “every other month and not every month”.

Sir Ian, meanwhile, took notice of Bishop Pinder’s examination before the Supreme Court’s deputy registrar on December 6, 2023, which disclosed that the Incorporated Trustees possessed considerable real estate and other assets, including bank accounts and overdraft facilities it had no need use because it was “solvent”, and called into serious question the claims of poverty.

“The making of an offer, the repayment of which barely covers the interest on the debt, does not meet the mark,” Sir Ian ruled. “The debtor maintains ownership in 60 debt-free properties and several overdraft facilities, yet they have not leveraged these assets to prevent the extraordinary steps being taken by the creditor.”

The Incorporated Trustees had also failed to detail their operational expenses, and the Chief Justice added: “The records disclosed at Pinder’s examination before the registrar reflects that in 2023 the debtor had a surplus profit (profit may not be the appropriate term for a church business) of $48,800.

“The transcript of that examination also revealed that the sum of $70,000 in the account was raised specifically for the purpose of meeting the judgment debt. There is also sums in the separate fixed deposit account of $110,666.

“Notwithstanding what appears to be a weak cash flow position as a result of the judgment, there is no evidence that the debtor is insolvent considering the extent of its landholdings and Pinder’s admissions. This should suggest that there is at least $229,449 in that account which do not affect the debtor’s operations.”

Electing to show mercy, Sir Ian decided: “In all the circumstances, having regard to the existence of the overdraft facility and leaving some monies to ensure that the church is not crippled and has the opportunity to continue to function and raise the monies necessary to retire these debts, I make an Order for the third-party debt order to be made final in the amount of $250,000.”