Thursday, 22 March 2012 Caribarena news Antigua News
Antigua St John's - Marcus Wide, managing director at Grant Thornton, has
said although his firm assisted the US Congressmen involved in the petition
to investigate the Antigua government's potential involvement in the US$7
billion Stanford Ponzi Scheme, his office does not prosecute criminal
matters.
But it will be pursuing all "improper transactions" made by Stanford
International Bank (SIB).
In an exclusive interview with Caribarena.com on Wednesday, Wide confirmed
that his office had assisted the US Congressmen with the liquidation and its independence from the Government of Antigua.
He said too that the office of Grant Thornton, which was appointed on May
13, 2011 by Justice Mario Michel of the Eastern Caribbean High Court, as the new liquidators of Stanford International Bank Ltd, had even "corrected some factual information in relation to the liquidation in the original resolution".
Caribarena.com asked the liquidator whether his office intends to file any
charges in Antigua & Barbuda or go after any political contributions, legal
fees, or even the cricket prizes lavishly handed out by Stanford while a
knight in the country.
"We are not criminal prosecutors, so unless we believe we can win and
collect, it would not be proper to spend money that would otherwise be
available to the depositors and victims," Wide said.
He added, however, that Grant Thornton intends to pursue all "improper"
transactions where it is commercially reasonable to do so.
"This includes assessing the quality of the evidence about the transaction,
an assessment of the law, and chances of success in court, and an assessment of our ability to enforce the judgment and recover money for the benefit of the estate," Wide said.
The liquidator pointed out, however, that his firm does not intend to
duplicate claims already made by receiver Ralph Janvey.
Regarding the general position taken by Grant Thornton on the move by the US Congressmen, Wide said, "We have no position or comment on any dispute
between the Government of Antigua and the Government of the United States of America."
No comments:
Post a Comment