A top Nassau lawyer has refused repeated requests by U.S. law officers to return $9 million that was stolen by a U.S. scam artist, The Punch Newspaper has revealed in an exclusive front page story.
Bahamian attorney Michael Paton has been accused by New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Anna M. Lascurain of failing to account for the $9 million. She alleges that Paton has been withholding the money ï¾ without legal justification and still refuses to return the funds.
The New Jersey Deputy Attorney General alleges that Paton has ignored repeated requests, dating back to January 2002, to return the stolen money. Paton is a senior partner in leading law company Lennox Paton & Co, located in the Hilton Hotel downtown.
Paton is also Chairman Of The Bahamas Financial Services Board. He was appointed to that top post by PM Perry Christie in 2003. New Jersey court papers show that the $9 million was part of $75 million stolen from clients by Robert Brennan, ex-boss of First Jersey Securities. Many of the clients lost their life savings. Brennan, 61, is now serving 12 years in a U.S. jail for money laundering and other crimes.
He gave U.S. officials details of how he handed over some $9 million to Paton so he could hide his cash from creditors. The $9 million was put in Cardinal Trust in Nevis, West Indies, in 1998. Cardinal was controlled by Queensway, a trust headed by Paton. U.S. officials have accused Paton of improperly withholding the assets and records of Cardinal. Brennan has also alleged that Paton has failed to explain a shortfall of several million dollars in Cardinal. He said Paton provided “an absurd explanation” that the Trust’s money was placed in an investment contract recommended by Paton’s father, Lennox Paton, 75, a senior partner in Lennox Paton & Co.
Paton charged Cardinal some $2 million in legal fees. Three lawyers have recently left Lennox Paton & Co., including White Knight David Johnstone, Bryan Glinton and Andrew O’Brien.
Source: The Punch, Bahamas
