CLICO INSURANCE: THE PERFECT CRIME

Sheri Veronica says…

“CLICO has become the poster child for all that is wrong in Barbados. The people know that elite wrongdoers are well protected – they have the protection of the police and the government.

The stench of corruption and the grandstanding of sanctimonious, arrogant, lawless and contemptuous elite engulf the people. Citizens are arming themselves, shooting at police and committing more grievous crimes. With millions of dollars stolen and no real hope of its recovery, approximately 20,000 seniors are at risk of poverty. And finally, as has been alluded to above, hardly ever are elites incarcerated in BARBADOS.”

All we at BFP can add to that is… Amen, sister! Amen.

Does Leroy Parris of CLICO infamy have anything to do with Welches Insurance Agent Inc. ?

Editor’s note: Remember folks… this is an anonymous blog so don’t take anything for true without a little salt and lots of questions. We received this anonymously and have no way to check the information.

If it is true, it is news. If it’s not true, it was sent by some anonymous mischief troublemaker…

submitted by anonymous…

I would like for somebody to tell me how it is that Faye Wharton-Parris wife of CLICO Ex boss Leroy Parris has so boldly displayed on the door next to her business Premier Event Services Inc @ Welches Plaza a sign with the name Welches Insurance.

Are people so blind or is it that they don’t know of this newly formed insurance Company? I know for a fact that it is belongs to them. The PARRISES making jokes at us and turning some Bajans into parros because they can’t get their investments back.

Name    WELCHES INSURANCE AGENT INC.
Number    37958
Category    Company
Date registered / Incorporated    2014-02-18

Prime Minister Stuart won’t talk about this Clico issue…

Leroy Parris and good friend Finance Minister Chris Sinckler share champagne

The DLP protect Leroy Parris because they have to… or else!

Had former Prime Minister David Thompson lived to lead the Democratic Labour Party into the coming election, it would have been a very messy fight indeed… because Thompson was Clico’s lawyer when so much wrongdoing happened, and he knew about many contentious activities.

“It gets worse, much worse. Former PM David Thompson was in the thick of it in August 2007, prior to being elected. Thompson’s law firm took 4% of the purchase of CLICO’s new business jet for ‘legal fees’. We told you so, folks. We told you.”

… from BFP’s Former PM David Thompson law firm money-laundered millions from CLICO to Parris: How much came back to Thompson & DLP?

Voters remember that it was David Thompson who during the 2007-2008 election campaign voiced the DLP’s promise to bring integrity to government, and transparency in the government’s dealings in every area. He promised new laws and government rules to stop the abuses. It was David Thompson who held up a campaign cheque for $75,000 that Owen Arthur illegally deposited into his own personal bank account. Arthur stole that money from the BLP election coffers and Thompson proved it to Bajans and the world. (No one asked where Thompson got the cheque – it was, of course, stolen from banking records by a DLP supporter!)

So Thompson and the DLP were elected to provide integrity legislation, freedom of information, conflict of interest rules and to generally clean up what had become a government and civil service rotten to the core with corruption, injustice and nepotism.

PM Thompson Says His Use Of CLICO’s Business Jet Is None Of Your Business

Clico perks were cheap for the DLP, expensive for policyholders

Unfortunately though, it was also David Thompson who (once elected) spent days on end enjoying perks from his friends at CL Financial, including free business jet use.

Barbados removes assets from CLICO victims: Sam Lord’s Castle to be expropriated by government

CLICO policy holders will never see a dollar for this ‘fire sale’ of assets

submitted by Parris Pauper

The Barbados Government is moving to ‘compulsorily acquire’ the Sam Lord’s Castle ruins and lands. As Minister of Housing and Lands Michael Lashley stated, Sam Lord’s is being acquired “for housing purposes, tourism development and beach access.”

Sam Lord’s Castle has been owned by CLICO for almost ten years (memory fails – if someone has the exact date CLICO purchased Sam Lord’s, speak up please) and is an incredibly valuable piece of property if developed. The hold-up to development approval was always the historic Sam Lord’s Castle building, but just as Barbados Free Press predicted in April 2009 – a fire took care of that little impediment.

If anything, the burning of Sam Lord’s Castle raised the end value of the land because the historic building was totally destroyed and ceased to be a major political obstacle in new development. Only the facia remains and this could be incorporated into any new structure if it doesn’t totally fall down first.

With the collapse of CLICO, the DLP government moved to grab the asset. They didn’t move to protect the public interest in the historic building before the CLICO collapse because Leroy Parris, David Thompson and the DLP were tight as thieves and the idea was to allow Parris to let the building fall to ruin, then maximize the profit from the lands.

And there was also that one little sticking point about the DLP never acting responsibly at the time to protect the interests of Bajans: Prime Minister Thompson and Leroy Parris were godfather to each other’s children. Thompson was also CLICO’s lawyer for over a decade when the company failed to file financial statements and broke the law, and CLICO Parris et al were major financial contributors to the DLP.

CLICO was a very messy conflict of interest indeed for Thompson and the DLP.

Fortunately for the DLP though, David Thompson is now conveniently dead and revered instead of being subject to what would have been a tsunami of Opposition attacks over the CLICO cover-up and conflicts of interest.

Now the DLP government is going to take Sam Lord’s and sell it to make some good profits. Or… perhaps sell it to friends at a low price so the friends can make the profits and kickback some contributions to the DLP. That’s how things work around here, you know.

Here is the one truth in my article that you should remember above all else if you are a CLICO policy holder or other victim…

The Barbados Government will never pay CLICO for Sam Lord’s Castle. No matter whether the asset is fairly valued or under-valued, not one dollar of government money will be transferred to the assets of CLICO where the money could benefit the victims.

Instead there will be some finagling with the books and some credit or swap against CLICO’s real or contrived debt to the government coffers.

The pillaging of the good CLICO assets continues to the ultimate detriment of the poor suckers who believed that the Barbados Superintendent of Insurance and the Barbados Government were looking after policyholders’ interests.

Parris and his gang were able to do what they did only because they had the cooperation and friendship of Caribbean governments. Indeed, it could truly be said that in the case of Barbados, CLICO, Parris and Thompson owned the DLP government.

Policyholders: kiss your assets goodbye.

Further Reading

BFP, October 21, 2010: Sam Lord’s Castle burns to the ground thanks to Barbados DLP, BLP, CLICO, Leroy Parris

BFP, April 11, 2009: How CLICO Ruined A Barbados Heritage Site: Sam Lord’s Castle

Barbados court orders CLICO criminal charges stayed against Terrence Thornhill, Leroy Parris

Unethical, Corrupt: CLICO Bigshots Leroy Parris, Terrance Thornhill

No surprise at all!

Come on, folks! You know that Leroy Parris was the godfather to one of Prime Minister Thompson’s children. You know that Thompson was CLICO’s lawyer. You know that CLICO gave oodles of money to the Democratic Labour Party and let them use the corporate jet. You know that as a lawyer Prime Minister David Thompson money-laundered funds from CLICO to Leroy Parris. That’s what the auditors say.

We poor CLICO policy holders are suckers. The poor taxpayers are suckers.

Leroy Parris and good friend Finance Minister Chris Sinckler share champagne

Nothing changes ’bout hey.

Forget about your children’s futures and education: you and your children will be a long time paying (it’s called ‘bailing out’) the elites who built that Ponzi house of cards called CLICO.

I’m sure there’s some good legal reason why High Court Justice Kaye Goodridge ordered the Barbados Police to put the CLICO criminal charges on hold. Always is some good legal reason for doing what is done.

It’s just that we predicted this months ago. Futures destroyed, pensions gone, lifetimes of work and savings stolen… and nobody will ever pay.

Nothing changes ’bout hey. Nothing. Ever. Changes.

Further Reading

Nation News (read it at the Nation News website here)

Stop Order

Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin has been ordered to stop the criminal matter brought against the president of CLICO International Life, Terrence Thornhill, at least for now.

CLICO Scandal: Leroy Parris charged criminally, Former PM David Thompson law firm money-laundered millions from CLICO to Parris: How much came back to Thompson & DLP?

CLICO's lawyer, David Thompson, helped build the house of cards.

UPDATED: February 23, 2012

It gets worse, much worse. Former PM David Thompson was in the the thick of it in August 2007, prior to being elected. Thompson’s law firm took 4% of the purchase of CLICO’s new business jet for ‘legal fees’. We told you so, folks. We told you.

Stabreoek News: Stunning revelations in Barbados CLICO probe

PM Thompson said DLP use of CLICO's business jet was none of your business, but policy holders didn't know just how dearly it was costing them.

BFP’s original story published February 22, 2012…

Deloitte Auditors list shocking revelations

We all knew the relationship between Parris, Thompson and the DLP was dirty. Now, as they say, you can take it to the bank… except the bank is empty.

I still don’t believe we’re really going to get to the whole truth, but for now this is the news…

Legal Fees for Parris

Late Prime Minister David Thompson’s law firm received a whopping $3.3 million in legal and retainer fees from CLICO International Life Insurance Limited (CIL), but the fees were actually destined for former CLICO executive chairman Leroy Parris.

This was among the explosive revelations of the Deloitte Canada-led forensic audit into the operations of the insurance company and its financial relationship to the parent company – CLICO Holdings Barbados Limited (CHBL) – and other members of the local CLICO empire.

“On January 16, 2009, a payment for $3.333 [million] was made to the law firm Thompson & Associates by CIL…

The Nation: Full story: Legal fees for Parris

And…

CLICO Action

Criminal charges have been filed in the magistrates’ court against former executive chairman of CLICO Holdings (Barbados) Limited, Leroy Parris, and current president Terrence Thornhill.

Official police sources have told the MIDWEEK NATION that the two executives are to be served with summonses to appear in court.

They are accused of contravening an order by the Supervisor of Insurance in August 2009, which prohibited the company’s subsidiary CLICO International Life Insurance (CIL) from selling new business.

Read the full story: CLICO Action

Why was a profitable division of CLICO sold off?

Dear Barbados Free Press,

I don’t pretend to be knowledgeable about high finance or corporate affairs, and therefore I have to look at situations on a simple level. I’m having difficulty understanding something about how the powers that be handled the CLICO debacle. Here is my observation and questions:

In the current issue of Barbados Today, the news article “Upturn” says,

“One year after being rescued from under the beleaguered CLICO Holdings umbrella, Capita Financial Services, formerly CLICO Mortgage and Finance Company, is projecting a profit of just over one million dollars at March next year.”

Barbados Today Upturn

Why would the trustees of the CLICO mess sell off a profitable operation?

To my mind it would make more sense to hang onto it. The profit from this successful operation could have been used to shore up the rest or at least reduce the damage to policy holders who were ripped off.

That is unless the vultures saw an opportunity to grab a profitable piece of the company at the expense of the already-victimized policy holders.

Can someone please explain why this selling off of a profitable piece of CLICO was necessary and how it was good for the victims of Mr. Leroy Parris and Mr. Lawrence Duprey?

Thank you,

A fellow victim

CL Financial Fraud: 31 months of government control and no accounts yet!

UPDATED: November 9, 2011 – 6pm

Afra Raymond testified today at 2pm before the Colman Commission into the CL Financial collapse. No word if the video or audio of his testimony will be made available.

CL Financial bailout – The Final Solution?

by Afra Raymond

The new bailout formula was approved, as two new Acts, by Trinidad and Tobago Parliament on 14^th September, 2011…

The Central Bank (Amendment) Bill, 2011

The Purchase of Certain Rights and Validation Bill, 2011

The first one prevents any lawsuits against the Central Bank by claimants, while the second gives the Minister of Finance the right to borrow up to $10.7Bn and places the Republic Bank Ltd. (RBL) shares formerly held by CLICO into a new investment vehicle, NEL 2.

A perversion of our Treasury

These seem to represent what I am calling the Final Solution, in that the clamour and protest which had marked the last year seems to have been fading away.  There have been queries from the various ‘Policyholders’ groups’, but those have been limited.

Whatever one thinks of the actual bailout, which I maintain is a perversion of our Treasury, there are valuable lessons to be learned from all this.  The main lesson for me is the Power of the Few. 

In that although only about 16,000 investors were affected, they were able to mount a successful campaign to improve their position.  We need to note that lobbying and campaigning can be effective in gaining benefits for limited groups.  To all the weak-hearts who say nothing ever changes, please take note.

New car for CLICO crook Leroy Parris?

By now I think that everybody on the island has heard the rumour that CLICO’s Leroy Parris purchased a brand new Jaguar XJ. Nice car!

One thing I don’t understand though: where did Leroy get the time to shop for a new auto? I thought he’d be spending all his free moments looking for those hundreds of millions of dollars of missing CLICO assets.

Oh Dear! Barbadians know that Parris will never be held accountable for the missing assets because it probably involved former Prime Minister David Thompson who was CLICO’s lawyer for the decade when they broke the law and failed to file annual accounts.

Freundel Stuart’s DLP Government doesn’t want to touch that situation at all.

You know, as a CLICO policy holder I think I at least deserved dinner, a show and a couple of drinks from Leroy before he did what he did to me. At least with dinner and a show I’d be able to say I got something out of the relationship.

submitted by RLL

Victor Stewart on Sam Lord’s Castle and how CLICO pillaged our island

As part of the family that owned Sam Lord’s Castle before the Marriotts, and as a current landowner at Castle Close, I find the whole CLICO subject to be somewhat ridiculous.

Isn’t it obvious what is going on??? CLICO came into Barbados with the support of powerful people in government, and proceeded to pillage our fair Island.

One of the obvious and terrible casualties was my family home (and what our family had raised to equal status with then-nacent Sandy Lane in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a premier resort hotel) that was part of our national heritage. Apparently nobody cares about tradition any more, but Barbados has a long and honoured tradition of respecting the rule of law and more particularly English common law and equity principles of how to conduct business with the people in your community. All of this has been apparently lost in the fight for political power, but I will make a prediction that sooner or later the people of Barbados will rise up and demand an explanation for what has been done in their name.

I can only pray that the burned-out shell that used to be my family’s and this Island’s delight might one day be reconstituted, unlike the sad arson memorial that is Farley Hill. Only time will tell.

Victor E. Stewart
Castle Close, St. Philip

Further Reading

BFP: October 22, 2010 Sam Lord’s Castle as an over-valued asset in the CLICO – CL Financial pyramid fraud

BFP: October 21, 2010 Sam Lord’s Castle burns to the ground thanks to Barbados DLP, BLP, CLICO, Leroy Parris

BFP: April 11, 2009: How CLICO Ruined A Barbados Heritage Site: Sam Lord’s Castle

40 cents on the dollar for Clico victims? Michael Goodman says “Take that offer and shove it!”

by Michael Goodman

As a former Director of the Board of The Barbados Association of Retired Persons and a Clico Policyholder, I am absolutely horrified to read in the Saturday Sun of October 1st, that Douglas Skeete, apparently speaking on behalf of 27,000 BARP members (without having consulted them) suggests that liquidation of Clico is a preferable solution and that it would be “far better” for policyholders to settle for the likely return of just over 40 cents on the dollar from liquidation, than to wait five years for a new company and a promise of 100 per cent returns.

The Government of Barbados has already subjected thousands of Clico policyholders, many of whom are BARP members, to two and a half years of anxiety, depression, silence and arrogant dismissal, something about which BARP did absolutely nothing, until ‘joining forces’ with the active and effective Barbados Investors & Policyholders Alliance a few weeks ago…

… continue reading Mr. Goodman’s thoughts at Bajan Reporter’s What is going on at BARP? Former Director of BARP stressed at New CLICO Suggestion

Photo courtesy of Bajan Reporter

US Embassy Sources: Prime Minister David Thompson was offered CL Financial Board Seat

– Confidential Embassy Cable discusses David Thompson / Leroy Parris conflicts of interest

– “Economic ties between CLF and the PM also reportedly included an offer of a board seat, according to Embassy sources.”

– Who are the confidential “Embassy sources” ???

US Ambassador Brent Hardt: “Collapse of Trinidad’s CL Financial Group Ripples Across The Pond To Barbados”

CLICO's lawyer, David Thompson, helped build the house of cards.

Thanks to WikiLeaks, Barbadians now know another reason why Prime Minister David Thompson and the DLP Government protected Leroy Parris, refused to place a Judicial Manager for CLICO and did not implement Integrity Legislation.

Bajans always knew the whole CLICO-CL Financial / Leroy Parris / David Thompson / DLP connection stank to high heaven, but it is still tremendously saddening to see more evidence that the Thompson/Stuart DLP’s commitment to Integrity and Conflict of Interest laws during 2007 Election Campaign was all a pack of lies.

I am saddened. I wanted to believe David Thompson, Freundel Stuart and the DLP.

Who the hell do I vote for next time?

DLP Integrity Promise was all a pack of lies…

“Thompson’s close personal ties to the head of CLICO and his professional role as chief legal counsel for CLF prior to taking office in January, 2008, have made him vulnerable to opposition charges of conflict of interest in the management of this crisis. Economic ties between CLF and the PM also reportedly included an offer of a board seat, according to Embassy sources. With ties this close it is little wonder that Mottley has held three press conferences in the last three weeks seeking to pin the blame for any fallout from the CLF collapse on the PM. The fact that Mottley,s tactics forced the PM to so quickly mount a televised response shows the danger that the collapse of CLICO poses to him personally.”

… from the March 4, 2009 US Embassy Cable: WikiLeaks 09BRIDGETOWN144

Read the full WikiLeaks US Embassy cable at the above link or here>>>>>

Tourist writes: “History, beauty… no longer relevant in Barbados”

Tourists come for history and beauty, riches you can’t build with concrete.

by Cindy Martell, American visitor to Barbados

I am so saddened to read of the senseless loss of Sam Lords Castle. My husband and I took our honeymoon in Barbados at Sam Lords Castle when it was a Marriott property 19 years ago. We treasured every moment and the tales of Sam Lord, evil as he may have been. Sam Lords dinner was a highlight of our trip and history of the castle.

I learned of its tragic fate while researching for a return to trip to Barbados for our 20th Anniversary. I’m quite certain we will find a new special place as the history and riches that took us to Barbados originally appear to no longer be relevant. Tourists come for history and beauty, riches you can’t build with concrete.

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to Barbados: I don’t care about conflicts of interest, Leroy Parris is my long time friend.

Lesson #492 why the DLP won’t pass Integrity Legislation and political financing rules. Ever.

Barbados PM protecting one of the DLP’s prime financial backers.

Like Finance Minister Sinckler, our accidental Prime Minister Freundel Stuart just doesn’t get it or doesn’t care about Integrity Legislation, Conflicts of Interest and the optics of senior Ministers of Government cavorting with someone who at the very least is at the center of a scandal involving billions of dollars missing, and who should be under serious investigation.

But it’s okay because Leroy Parris is “a long-time friend and a one-time client” – not to mention a major financial supporter of the Democratic Labour Party. Oh… Stuart didn’t mention that financial support to the DLP, did he?

Prime Minister Stuart says it doesn’t help the CLICO situation to try to exploit a photograph of Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler talking to Parris (photo above) at the just run Gold Cup horse racing event. Stuart doesn’t mention that the photo was taken at a private little gathering where ordinary folks weren’t invited. He tries to make it like they just bumped into each other on the street.

So according to Prime Minister Stuart, victims and taxpayers should just shut up about CLICO conflicts of interest and if they don’t, the PM will blame the victims when they receive pennies or nothing on their “investments”.

That’s quite a different response than taken by the Government of Trinidad & Tobago, that set up a Commission of Enquiry to look into the CL Financial – CLICO debacle: including the examination of how relationships, conflicts of interest and election financing concerns contributed to the collapse.

What is it that causes Mr. Stuart to tell ordinary Barbadians that the relationship between government and Leroy Parris is none of their business?

Is it “honour amongst thieves” and all that? Or is it that Leroy Parris and CLICO funded the DLP election campaign that saw David Thompson made Prime Minister? Is it a combination of factors all working together that causes Mr. Stuart to tell ordinary Barbadians that the relationship between government and Leroy Parris is none of their business?

Ladies and gentlemen of the Democratic Labour Party: please excuse us for bothering you. Please continue to enjoy your champagne, lobster pate and your close relationship with the people who stole our future. Sorry for mentioning it. Truly.

Here’s the latest slap in the face of ordinary Bajans from our Prime Minister, Freundel Stuart. Please read it at The Nation, but as usual we’ll reprint it here because they change history every so often at that newspaper…

Champagne sipping Barbados Finance Minister pleads against “excessive discourse” about CLICO disaster

Minister Chris Sinckler cautions against a “frenzy”

Oh yes, Minister Sinckler, his friend Leroy Parris and all the other big ups who helped build the CLICO house of cards would love to see limits on public discussion about CLICO.

The Minister of Finance urged “all parties, including the media, not to try whipping up a frenzy”.

We’ve got news for Minister Sinckler: There’s a whole lot of people on this island and throughout the Caribbean who don’t trust Minister Sinckler or the DLP government. The DLP and senior Ministers (including the late Prime Minister Thompson) have an all too close and non-transparent relationship with CLICO, Leroy Parris and the rest of the people who took our money.

Minister Sinckler and the DLP government still have too close a relationship with Mr. Parris.

Here’s a photo (above) published in The Nation last week showing our Minister of Finance socializing with Leroy Parris. It looks like business as usual to us and just about everybody else who saw the photo.

Frankly Minister Sinckler, we’re not interested if you “just happened” to be standing next to Leroy when the photo was taken. It’s a small thing when compared to your party’s long history with Mr. Parris.

Tell us this, Minister Sinckler: How much money did the Democratic Labour Party receive from CLICO and associated companies and people over the years?

Is the DLP going to give that money back to the folks who lost everything?

Minister Sinckler, did the fact that Leroy Parris and CLICO supported the DLP have anything to do with the lack of government oversight about Clico? Did the fact that former Prime Minister David Thompson was CLICO’s lawyer for years and years influence the DLP government’s policies towards CLICO? Does the long term close relationship between CLICO, Parris, the DLP and David Thompson still have any influence on the DLP government?

Hello? Minister Sinckler? Hello?

CLICO, CL Financial disaster: Leroy Parris has no shame

UPDATED: March 11, 2011

Leroy Parris suing CLICO (and by extension, all CLICO victims)

Earned $80,000 MONTHLY, with ANNUAL BONUS & HIDDEN FEE!!!

Guaranteed $10 MILLION GRATUITY!

Former PM David Thompson signed 2005 SECRET CONTRACT – kept it secret from the Oversight Committee he later appointed as Prime Minister!

Oh what a foul bucket of suck-well this is. Leroy Parris billed CLICO for “consulting services” through an “independent” company and kept that contract secret from shareholders and other company employees. He collected millions while presiding over the destruction of people’s savings and lives. Leroy Parris and his gang destroyed widows’ houses and robbed children of their future while Parris made more in a month than most folks see in many years of hard labour. And Leroy Parris knew it was all a sham, a house of cards that he helped to construct.

People go to jail for less in other countries.

But this is Barbados. David Thompson, the same lawyer who helped set up the CLICO employment contract in 2005, received secret “campaign donations” from CLICO and Parris. After Thompson was elected Prime Minister, CLICO got land use approvals and Thompson had the use of the Clico executive jet.

Then when the CLICO – CL Financial house of cards came tumbling down, Thompson fought off judicial management of the company, appointed some toothless “Oversight Committee” without real authority or power to do anything, and gave Parris a nice job in charge of the Caribbean Broadcasting Company – managing what news the public heard about the CLICO debacle.

Prime Minister David Thompson knew about the secret agreement because he witnessed and signed it. He probably set it up as Leroy’s lawyer. Then years later when the “Oversight Committee” that Thompson appointed couldn’t find any contracts with Parris, Thompson stayed silent to protect his friend and himself.

Oh what a bucket of SHITE and it’s spilling everywhere…

BFP readers are asked to click on the links in our story to read the article Parris suing CLICO at The Nation, but we’re going to reprint their entire article here to protect our source as The Nation sometimes removes articles to change history and we can’t have that!

Parris suing CLICO

From The Nation March 11, 2011 – 12:10am

LEROY PARRIS, former executive chairman of CLICO Holdings (Barbados), earned over $80 000 in salary and perks monthly and was guaranteed a whopping $10 million in gratuity by the company.

In addition to a $30 000 monthly salary, he was also paid $300 000 a year as a bonus payment and another $300 000 yearly for providing management services.

An Irishman talks about Lawrence Duprey, Leroy Parris and CLICO Barbados

Okay, okay… this Irish chap doesn’t mention them Lawrence or Leroy by name, but he be talkin’ bout them fur sur!

Almost 2 million views on YouTube because he just tells it like it is.

Auntie Moses: this video is definitely not for your sensitive ears…

 

CL Financial – CLICO Bailout: Who will run from the Colman Commission submissions deadline?

Rape of the ordinary person: Privatized profits, Socialized losses.

That greed and fraud are prime causes in the collapse of the CL Financial / Clico house of cards is obvious to anyone. In Trinidad and Tobago, the Colman Commission is charged with getting to the bottom of the disaster – at least on the surface. Most of us believe it will be nothing more than a whitewash with all the big-boys doing their best to conceal their own roles and protect their fellow conspirators.

Let’s not forget the goals and strategies of people like Lawrence Duprey and Leroy Parris…

1. Maintain the Code of Silence.
2. Delay, delay, delay.
3. Secure their personal assets, well hidden away and/or transferred to proxies, family etc.
4. Argue that they were victims of the “world financial crisis” and events over which they had no control, and could not have been expected to foresee.
5. Destroy records, use legal means to avoid showing records, and do everything in their power to avoid having to answer direct questions in public.
6. Above all, first and last: Maintain the Code of Silence.

Caribbean news media maintains the Code of Silence

In his most recent article on the debacle, journalist Afra Raymond compares the US bailout with T&T and makes the stunning observation that, proportionately, the Trinidad and Tobago CL Financial bailout is TEN TIMES WORSE than the US situation. Paying this off will take food from the mouths of Caribbean children for generations.

Thanks to Lawrence Duprey, Leroy Parris and all the rest of the scum who did this to our future by Privatizing profits and Socializing losses.

Afra Raymond also makes a list of some people – including news editors – who should be making submissions to the Colman Commission. Oh yes… for years these people took big advertising revenues from CL Financial and Clico and ran “exclusive” news stories about the companies that were little more than advertisements. In exchange for advertising money and free content, the Caribbean news media pumped CL Financial, Clico and publicly worshiped Duprey, Parris and the rest while ignoring the many elephants in the room.

The news media has much to atone for…

by Afra Raymond

Smashing the Code of Silence

I have been preparing my submissions for the Colman Commission and took some time-out to start reading the Report into the USA’s financial crisis.

Of course I am referring to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, which was published at the end of last month, about a year after its first hearings – see http://c0182732.cdn1.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/fcic_final_report_full.pdf.

Even though I have barely scratched the surface of this 662-page work, it has already been a deeply fascinating read, filled with cautionary insights.

The first conclusion of that Report is worth citing –

“We conclude this financial crisis was avoidable.