The liquidator for CLICO Bahamas Limited walked out of the Supreme Court yesterday empowered to secure a major asset necessary to ensure payouts to creditors of the failed insurance firm.

Attorney Sidney Cambridge, who represents liquidator Craig 'Tony' Gomez, had stressed repeatedly that the liquidator ran the risk of failing to get under his control investments CLICO Bahamas made in another company known as CLICO Enterprises Limited (CEL).

CEL's major investment is a Florida real estate development known as Wellington Preserve, but the ownership of CEL itself has come into question.

"What we thought we owned now is in question," Cambridge told Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Albury, who eventually granted the liquidator's request to wind up CEL. Gomez will now gain direct control of that company's assets for creditors of CLICO Bahamas, which was forced into liquidation in February.

"In harnessing the assets of CEL, we came to realize that information we reasonably relied upon was perhaps not as accurate as expected," Cambridge also said. "...What is at stake is recovery of the assets."

Cambridge had warned that the risks were high "because we're dealing with a primary asset in a foreign jurisdiction." He was referring to the real estate development in Florida. The Wellington Preserve is viewed as the jewel in CLICO Bahamas' assets pool and there existed a fear that it could have ended up at the center of a fight with parties unconnected to CLICO Bahamas.

"Give us a chance to control the assets and then we can sit at the table and see how they can be shared," Cambridge said in response to initial objections from attorney Damian Gomez to the winding up of CLICO Enterprises Limited.

Cambridge told the judge it is critical that the liquidator be granted control of all the assets that were purchased with CLICO Bahamas' money.

"If we walk away from court without control of the assets, we run the risk of serious dissipation," Cambridge warned.

According to court documents, CLICO Bahamas had advanced approximately $73 million to CLICO Enterprises Limited. CEL then invested in Wellington Preserve, a high-end residential subdivision with an equestrian/polo theme.

As noted, Gomez, the attorney who represents a group of policyholders, had originally objected to the winding up of CLICO Enterprises Limited, contending that Cambridge had failed to abide by a court order to provide the attorneys in the matter with periodic updates on the liquidation. Cambridge acknowledged that he had failed to carry out this undertaking but indicated that he had a reasonable excuse.

Attorney Gomez had also argued that winding up CLICO Enterprises Limited would be an expensive route to get to the assets the liquidator spoke of in an affidavit to the court.

Professing that he was in "an oblivious state of ignorance", attorney John Wilson, who represents CLICO Guyana, told the court that he had not been served documents in relation to the winding up request. Furthermore, Wilson said, he has yet to receive any response from the liquidator relative to the status of the claim filed by CLICO Guyana, which he said is potentially the largest claimant in the liquidation of CLICO Bahamas.

While he eventually pledged support for the winding up of CLICO Enterprises Limited, Wilson said the entire liquidation process needed to be more open. He said he preferred to err on the side of ensuring that the assets are secured for creditors.

The registered office for CLICO Enterprises Limited is situated in the chambers of Serville & Co. Attorney Shaka Serville told the court that as he had no instructions from any clients relative to the winding up of CEL, he could register no objection to it.

The matter of who owns CLICO Enterprises was not addressed in court yesterday. According to court documents, the latest annual return on file for the company shows two shares are listed as issued: One was issued to Mayco Holdings Limited and the other to Nardco Holdings Limited. Their registered office is listed as Gibson, Serville & Co., which was dissolved years ago.

By CANDIA DAMES ~ Guardian News Editor