Following calls by Bamboo Town MP Tennyson Wells that “jail time” may be in order for some persons involved in the legal side of the Anna Nicole Smith case, lawyer Michael Scott of the law firm of Callenders and Co. was “horrified” by Mr Wells’ suggestion.
Mr Wells in the House on Wednesday night, addressing the question of Anna Nicole Smith’s ownership of the Eastern Road home ‘Horizons’ and the obtaining of her permanent residency status, questioned the actions of the lawyers involved in the case.
He said that had the same chain of events surrounding the case happened in “the US, Canada or Britain, jail time would have been needed for some people involved.”
He questioned how lawyer Michael Scott of Callenders and Co, having been the point lawyer in the dealings, could be representing so many sides in the case of the ownership of ‘Horizons.’
“It appears to me that the lawyer for the vendor is the lawyer for the purchaser and the lawyer for the liquidator,” he said.
He further questioned how the lawyer could deliver the deed for the home to Minister of Immigration Shane Gibson – as proof of Ms Smith’s ownership – signed by the vendor and then the liquidator, “and then come back and say something has changed.”
In a written statement he distributed to House members, Housing Minister Shane Gibson said that as a result of an Immigration Department investigation it was “revealed that the file in question contains a letter from attorneys Callenders and Co, acting for Anna Nicole Smith. The letter represents that Ms Smith had unconditionally purchased a $1 million home located in Nassau.
“The file also contains a notarized copy of a conveyance prepared by Callenders and Co, executed by George Clifford Culmer, Liquidator, and Ronald H Kelly, transferring ownership of the property in question to Vicky Lynn Marshall, also known as Anna Nicole Smith.”
Mr Scott said yesterday that his firm was “unable to say how the Department of Immigration came into possession of a copy of a conveyance insofar as we never submitted a document to the department of Immigration, nor did the department ever request a copy of that conveyance from us.
“We are, however, aware that the copy of the conveyance was given to the Estate Agents who may have given it to Anna Nicole Smith,” the lawyer said.
In his comments Mr Wells was referring to a recent development in the case, which suggests that Ms Smith may have not fully owned ‘Horizons’ at the time her permanent residency status was granted.
In a letter from Callenders and Co to the Bahamas Immigration Department that was released to The Tribune on Wednesday night, Ben Thompson, a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina developer and a former boyfriend of Ms Smith, said that he, and not Ms Smith, owned the $950,000 property in question.
He also said that he entered a credit deal with the former Playmate and reality star, but that he had not received any money from her. She had claimed that the home was a gift. She later withdrew the claim.
Mr Thompson said he has asked Ms Smith, the current Trimspa spokeswoman, to leave his property.
Speaking with The Tribune yesterday, Mr Scott, who is Mr Thompson’s lawyer, said that Mr Wells’ comments were made without full appreciation of the facts.
He said that in this case the vendor and liquidator were essentially the same.
Although Mr Wells did not say for whom “jail time” should be handed out, Mr Scott said the “innuendo is plain.”
However, Mr Scott said, “as there is a possibility of a referral of this matter to the Council of the Bahamas Bar Association for its consideration, it would be inappropriate for us to comment on this matter in any way other than to say that we are not surprised by the comments of Mr Wells as he has an animus towards this firm.”
Mr Scott explained that “it is a matter of public record that Wells and Wells were unsuccessful in litigation between themselves and a company called Oshi Enterprises Inc in respect of which a judgment of approximately $4 million was entered against them. As a result of the judgment Wells and Wells made a claim to the underwriters for indemnity under a policy of Special Indemnity Insurance.
“The insurers referred the matter to us for advice and as a result of our opinion the insurers declined the cover.”
He said it was “either mendacious or cowardly” on the part of the Bamboo Town MP to make such comments under the protection of the absolute privilege of the House of the Assembly.
“It is essentially despicable,” he said.
By KARIN HERIG Tribune Staff Reporter
