Antigua St John's - Joint liquidators (JL) of Stanford assets Marcus Wide and Hugh Dickson have secured a liquidation order from the Antigua courts for Stanford Trust Company (Antigua).
Marcus Wide told Caribarena.com in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that while the order was given on Friday, the signing of the official documents was likely on Monday or Tuesday.
He said also that the JLs are still looking into the potential sale of lands adjacent to the VC Bird International Airport, which the government of Antigua has signaled its interest in securing for the airport’s expansion initiative.
These lands, according to Wide, cannot be sold solely at the discretion of the Sanford Development Company (SDC). Direct consent must be given from his office, and aside from knowledge of the government’s interest, the JLs has not received any information from the SDC about any negotiations or the potential way forward.
A February 9 publication on Caribarena.com suggested that negotiations between the government and the SDC were in the final stages. Another article, on March 9, suggested that a price had been set and reportedly agreed upon; all without the knowledge of input of the JLs.
Wide said the SDC must produce whatever agreement it enters into with the government for the airport lands before a decision can be made; anything outside of that would be illegal.
“The government has to do a deal with the Stanford Development Company. They then have to come to us and say we have this offer from government for these lands," Wide said. "Here is the value that we have negotiated, and are you prepared to consent to this transaction at that price."
He said the lands had not been appraised so far because the JLs has nothing to measure it against. SDC negotiators and the government seem to be measuring the airport lands based on the amount paid to secure them.
“SDC cannot complete a sale without my approval,” Marcus Wide said. “They couldn't make an agreement without our consent. Stanford Development Company officers have not presented anything to us for approval…”
The JLs said they have so far apprised about US$212 M in land value in Antigua, including Guana Island. This appraisal does not include the airport land that the government wants to secure.
Attempts to secure clarification on the status of the airport lands negotiations were unsuccessful.
Also, some US$6 million has also been discovered in lands belonging to Stanford outside of Antigua, and Wide has declined to reveal any details as to where these lands are located – at least not before his office has “swooped in from the shadows” and secured it on behalf of the victims.
Legal Issues
Further, legal action is to begin shortly against the fees for the former Joint Liquidators. The action for this case is to take place in Antigua courts.
Wide explained that “shortly” a conference is to be convened between the Judge handling the proceedings, the council for the former JLs as well as his office, at which a trial or hearing date is to be established for the fee application.
“I want it to be done before the court recesses for summer,” Wide said.
The Attorney General’s office in Antigua is not in talks with the new JLs in this matter. It is one that is being handled independently and the JLs intend to go forward on the grounds that “very little value was delivered to the estate.”
The JLs is however in talks with the Attorney General’s Office about two other matters involving government.
Marcus Wide said a letter was recently written and delivered to the Attorney General Justin Simon seeking clarification on whether or not the Antigua government had a claim in the Stanford International Bank liquidation.
According to Wide, “It had been suggested by some of the US lawyers that the government could have a claim in the liquidation… That was the concern expressed by the Americans.”
He explained that while the records show that the bank had no liability to the Antigua government, clarification was necessary and the AG provided this clarification informally.
The other issue addressed by the letter regards funding provided by the Stanford Group to the Government of Antigua for several projects. In this case, the JLs are seeking clarification on whom it can speak to with respect to trying to settle those claims on behalf of the government. No clarification on this has yet been received.
Progress
Speaking to the progress made over the past three months in an Internet conference on Wednesday, the JLs said they were working to recover in excess of US$12 M in Colombia.
It was also noted that talks have been held with US Congressional leaders and foreign governmental officials and the Receiver has been forced to bring damages claims against two law firms. The JLs has also managed to obtain tolling agreements for future lawsuits against two other law firms.
Moreover, independent investigators and experts are reported to be working on identifying and developing damages and recovery claims to be filed in court. And, the JLs say they have caused the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop a request for repatriation in the UK for now.
Furthermore, since their appointment, Marcus Wide and Hugh Dickson say they have managed to recover US$3.2 million from Panama and US$20 million from the UK, while freezing real estate appraised at US$212 million.
They have also challenged the FRP/Vantis claim to US$18 million in fees and filed claims through Swiss Trustee to US$230 million in funds.
The press conference revealed further that neither the criminal conviction nor the forfeiture order against Stanford releases funds in the UK, Canada, and Switzerland. And that the only funds currently available in a liquidated form are in the hands of the SEC Receiver, Ralph Janvey, who has approximately $80 million in available cash.
The way forward for the JLs includes numerous “clawback” and preference claims set to be filed shortly. They will also be moving to file large third-party liability claims, while pressing claims to lands in Antigua in the name of non-SIB entities.
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