The attorneys for Colina executives, Emmanuel Alexiou and Anthony Ferguson, on Thursday attempted to convince a Supreme Court judge that their clients were not in contempt of court when they refused to immediately follow her ruling to pay former company president, James Campbell, “forthwith”.
But Mr. Campbellﾴs attorneys, Milton Evans and Philip “Brave” Davis, are trying to convince Justice Anita Allen that Messrs Alexiou and Ferguson disobeyed her January 20, 2006 order to pay the former president $9 million forthwith to buy out his stake in the group of companies.
The Colina executives had already paid an initial $3.5 million before Mr. Campbell took them to court for the remaining funds.
Last month, Mr. Campellﾴs attorneys gave reasons why Justice Allen should render a judgment that could land the Colina executives in prison for contempt of court.
However, Mr. Alexiouﾴs defense team argued on Thursday that the action not to pay Mr. Campbell was not an intentional offense, and therefore Mr. Alexiou should not be found in contempt.
His attorney, Colin Callender, said his client did not defy the court order. Mr. Callender added that in order for his client to be found in contempt of court “willful disobedience” of the courtﾴs order must be established.
The attorney told the court that an examination of conduct must be carried out to determine whether Mr. Alexiou was willfully disobedient before contempt of court can be decided.
Mr. Callender added that his client was not contumacious because he was acting on the legal advice of his attorney as they proceeded to take action in the Court of Appeal.
Messrs Alexiou and Ferguson lost their case before the high court and have since paid Mr. Campbell the money, but the former Colina president would have to give it back if his former partners win their Privy Council appeal.
Mr. Callender said his client was apologetic for his non-compliance action. He also told the court that Mr. Alexiou wanted to act in good faith and was not resistant to authority.
Therefore, he said that his conduct should not be regarded as contumacious behavior.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fergusonﾴs attorney, John Wilson, tried to establish the timeframe in which his client was ordered to pay the money and the length of time the court had allotted for the payment to commence.
Mr. Wilson argued that the term “forthwith” does not necessarily mean “immediately” as Mr. Campbellﾴs attorneys contend. He said in fact the term forthwith could be construed as a two-day period from the date of which the order was served.
The attorney argued that a nine-hour period to pay a $9 million debt was simply unrealistic.
However, Justice Allen told Mr. Wilson to justify the reason why the term forthwith should mean two days, when his client had already indicated to the court that the money was in an escrow account at Callenderﾴs and Co.
She said if the Colina executives had to go and raise the money the terms of payment would have been different, but the fact that the money was in escrow made the circumstances for payment different.
“In these days and time where all you need to do is fax, telephone or e-mail [one] could authorize a release of funds,” Justice Allen said. “What are your reasons for stating forthwith is a day and a half?”
Mr. Wilson also attempted to prove to the court why his client should not be jailed for contempt, citing the Debtorﾴs Act, which he said indicated why a person should not be imprisoned for debt.
He also indicated that the contempt order was simply a personal vendetta against his client and considered it a waste of the courtﾴs time.
Justice Allen adjourned the matter and set a tentative date of March 24 at 10am.
When the matter returns to court, Mr. Wilson is expected to continue his submissions, and Mr. Campbellﾴs attorneys are expected to get a chance to respond.
Justice Allen noted that she is hoping to conclude the matter “swiftly”.
Mr. Campbell had a nasty fallout with his former partners last year, not too long after the government approved Colinaﾴs controversial bid to purchase Imperial Life Financial.
By Bianca Symonette, Bahama Journal
