1. SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE
Bernard Madoff Allen Stanford
In jail in the US In jail in the US
Eugene Hamilton
Running for Public Office
in St Kitts/Nevis
WHAT DO THEY
HAVE IN COMMON?
They cannot account for millions Then they used Peter’s money to
of dollars snared into their compa- pay Paul after squandering Paul’s
nies from the savings of innocent money on wild spending sprees.
people deceived by false pretenses.
They left thousands of people in
They used these funds to feather misery, deprived of their life savings
their nests and to engage in high risk and the money they expected to carry
investment activities. them through retirement.
Madoff Stanfor are fit for
ord at
If Madof f and Stanford are fit for jail, then at the
Eugene AM’s
PAM’
very least, Eugene Hamilton, PAM’s Shadow Minister
Security, unfit for Public Office.
of Social Security, is unfit for Public Of fice.
2. WHERE DE MONEY GONE?
Basseterre, June 26, 2009 - General Manager of British
American Insurance Company in St Kitts/Nevis and Deputy PAM Number 2 Eugene Hamilton
Political Leader of the People’s Action Movement Eugene
Hamilton, has decided to step aside from the responsibility
and his colleagues on the Board of
to secure hundreds of millions of dollars of the people’s British American turn their backs
money jeopardized by failed investment strategies.
saying they are powerless to prevent
In a report to the Prime Ministers and Ministers of Finance
in the Eastern Caribbean Currency union dated June 15th, the collapse of the Company and the
2009, Hamilton joined other board members of the regional
company to confirm their inability to protect the life savings
loss of millions by depositors.
of depositors who now face the trauma of an uncertain The closing paragraphs of their report underline the gravity
financial future. of a situation which will bring untold pain and suffering to
In St Kitts/Nevis alone, the exposure is said to be in excess the people of this region:
of $130 million and according to Hamilton and his colleagues “British American has run out of money to pay operating
to whom the people’s deposits were entrusted, it is now up expenses, it is trading while insolvent and is being sued by
to “the regulators with jurisdiction over British American, to policy holders desperate to secure their policy benefits. The
intervene in the public good”. company is on the verge of losing its Catastrophe reinsurance
For some time now, financial analysts have been predicting cover at the start of the 2009 hurricane season and does not
that the difficulties facing British American’s parent company have the cash reserve to meet the $2.1 million deductible in
CL Financial Limited would carry over into its subsidiaries the event of a claim. British American’s staff and policy
since they were all tied in to the high risk investment agenda holders are under risk of physical harm or loss of life and the
of the Trinidad and Tobago conglomerate. company is on the verge of losing its $200 million US
investment portfolio. The company needs an urgent injection
According to the June 15th report of the British American of cash and regulatory direction to address these issues and
bosses “over the past 4 months… after hearing the same determine British American’s way forward…
empty promises, many policy holders have run out of
patience and are taking legal action to recover their money. “The Board is of the view that British American’s demise is
British American is actively engaged in defending over 20 now days away and we are powerless to prevent the Group’s
lawsuits from OECS clients alone amounting to over $15 imminent collapse. The Board has no indemnity insurance,
million in claims. that we would not be held personally liable for the demise
of the company, despite using our very best efforts to prevent
“One client has already obtained judgment in the courts and British American’s collapse.
has secured a lien on British American’s office in Dominica
to recover funds due. It is only a matter of time before other “In the face of our inability to delay the inevitable, we must
policy holders obtain judgment in their favour and seize more now discharge our final responsibility and stand aside to
of British American’s real estate in other jurisdictions like allow the regulators with jurisdiction over British American,
Grenada and Antigua in particular.” to intervene in the public good.”
In the circumstances of the mess created, many believe, by It is unclear whether the authorities will hold the Board of
corporate greed and a failure to make sound investment Directors of British American Insurance Company Limited,
decisions with the deposits of policy holders, Hamilton and comprising Robert Fullerton, Eugene Hamilton and Keith
his colleagues in the leadership of British American have King, legally responsible for the losses of depositors and
determined it is impossible to continue. therefore liable to appropriate penalties.
The money owed to deposi- “British American has run out of money
to pay operating expenses, it is trading
tors in St Kitts/Nevis is said to while insolvent and is being sued by
be in excess of $130 million policy holders...”
