..., Chen-Young assets - Trail of hidden properties unearthed
April 20, 2007
THE SUPREME Court of Jamaica and the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Florida, have frozen assets of Dr. Paul Chen-Young, former boss of the Eagle group, and stockbroker Hugh Croskery.
Croskery, chairman of Stocks and Securities Limited (S&S), a New Kingston brokerage known previously as Paul Chen-Young and Associates before its renaming last year, was ordered to disclose other assets he holds on Chen-Young's behalf within 14 days.
Croskery's lawyers, Patterson Mair Hamilton, responding to a request for comment, said Thursday that Croskery was surprised by the court order because he was made to understand that the matter was amicably settled.
A lawyer at the firm said Croskery had nothing to hide and would disclose documents and information in "any way responsive" to the court order.
On May 4, 2006, after eight years of litigation, the Jamaican court handed down judgement in favour of Eagle Merchant Bank and Crown Eagle Life - failing entities that were rescued by regulators in the 1990s - against their former CEO, Chen-Young, $900 million plus interest.
Chen-Young had earlier been ordered to declare all his assets, and not to dispose of or deal with any of them without the court's approval.
FINSAC Limited, government's white knight agency used to bail out financial firms during the sector's historic meltdown, recently discovered that Chen-Young had failed to disclose extensive assets in Florida, and that he transferred many of them in the days following the judgement.
The evidence presented to the court showed that through a company known as Florida Phoenix Finance Inc., Chen-Young acquired at least 170 different residential properties in three counties in Florida including the affluent Palm Beach County.
Chen-Young is president, director and treasurer of the company, Solicitor General Michael Hylton, Q.C., noted in his April 13 application to the Supreme Court.
On May 12, 2006, within days of the May 4 judgement, and notwithstanding a Mareva Injunction still in effect, the former Eagle boss also transferred 19 properties to Hugh Croskery, the trustee of a secret trust known asthe Phoenix Noteholder's Trust.
On May 10, Chen-Young also transferred a house in Miami to his children; and numerous properties to other trusts and connected persons, as well as third parties, the Solicitor General claimed.
Two properties acquired by Phoenix on May 18 were transferred to Croskery on May 24, and another acquired in May, was transferred to him on June 15, Hylton told the court.
Hylton was in Florida last week assisting United States (U.S.) attorneys to secure the order there. He then returned to Jamaica to make a similar application before Justice Marjorie Cole-Smith.
He was assisted by Julie Thompson, Carlene Larmond and Karen Hill.
Hylton indicated that investigations are continuing and that there was already evidence of assets in at least one other U.S. state and one other country, but declined to identify them by name....
Author: Barbara Gayle
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
