fp Turks and Caicos

Mr. Milne – Counsel to the Inquiry, turned his attention from the revelations of the previous day to a sort of ‘tallying up’ of The Hon. Dr. Michael E. Misick’s income, expenditures and expenses. He laid out the total income between 2002 - 2008:

a. Golf Course Condo - $178,563.13

b. Windsor Plaza - $207,556.00

c. Grace Bay Plaza - $52,850

However, there was another entry of $366,122.67 credited, so that between 2002-2008, there were total credits of $1,011,572 or a little under $200,000 per annum

Milne asked The Premier whether these numbers represented his total income for these years. “Yes”, said the Premier. The aim was to show whether The Premier’s income could substantiate his assets

With that, Mr. Milne in dramatic form laid out a spellbinding list of loans to The Premier:

At this revelation, the audience grew restless. The amount was astonishing to many, as the exit commentary revealed, not in the amount, but, as one lady said in exasperation: “in the context of merely 6 years, and for one who is was charged with negotiating on behalf of the country, I am concerned. Where does he get the time, and who else do you know that can raise that kind of money so shortly?”

Milne seemed to be just on that track in his follow up questions after presenting the totals. Here is the exchange: MILNE: Have you made any repayments so far on Secured Holdings, Arling Anstalt or the Belize Bank loans or Secured Holdings?

PREMIER: No, I have not made any. I have not. Belize Bank, I have made some.
MILNE: Belize Bank, you have made some repayments. That is the early loans, is it?
PREMEIR: No, that is on the 5 million.
MILNE: How much have you repaid of the 5 million.
PREMIER: I can't recall exactly.
MILNE: Have you repaid Floyd Hall?
PREMIER: No.
MILNE: Lillian Boyce?
PREMIER: No.
MILNE: Or your brother?
PREMEIR: No.
MILNE: Have you repaid the First Caribbean International Bank?
PREMIER: I have made some payments, yes.
MILNE: Saunders & Co?
PREMIER: No.
MILNE: Meridian Mortgage, $200,000, have you repaid them?
PREMIER: No.
MILNE: Coral Square, $4.72 million secured against your house, have you repaid them?
PREMIER: No.
MILNE: Of this 20 million, how much do you think you have repaid, a few thousand, a few hundred thousand?

The Premier sought to explain that he did make some payments and some of the loans consolidated others. Milne asked The Premier to show that was the case. He answered that he would need time. Milne move to his coup d’ grace to clinch his point against The Premier.

Here is that exchange:

MILNE: Let's look at the interest. The documents that have been disclosed to us, where we have documents and in many cases we don't, but those that we have indicate for Arling Anstalt, a level of interest of only 5 per cent which is probably good in the circumstances. J&T Banka are looking for 10.27 per cent interest. Belize Bank have a rate of interest which I think is linked to the base rate, but certainly started out at 10.9 per cent, and Coral Square wanted 12 per cent interest on their loans. In the cases where we don't have details, we have assumed to your benefit that 5 per cent would be payable on these. But notwithstanding that, the total annual interest on these loans as they stand and we disregard compounding of interest, that is interest earning more interest because it has not been paid, is 1.983 million, $235,000 a year. Nearly $2 million a year in interest. To put that in context, it is $5,433 a day every day the year or $226.40 every hour of every day of the year. So since you have been in that seat this morning, sir, I am afraid that you are something like $500 worse off in terms of interest. How do you propose to pay that level of interest?
PREMIER: As I indicated just now, some of these loans were in relation to one-off payments. My assets outweigh the liabilities. I have in the past built homes and sold them, and so the bottom line is that in some of these, if I have to ultimately sell assets to satisfy… plus in many cases they are secured loans, the banks would rather have security that they can draw on.

Milne asked who it came to be that The Premier could find people to loan him that kind of money on those terms. He wanted The Premier to explain his strategy for repaying, as he seem unconvinced that the assets mentioned prove sufficient. Further questions were raised above the Premier’s credit cards, including an American Express AMEX Centurion Card on which hundreds of thousands of dollars passed monthly. The Premier was asked to explain how even with an incomplete accounting, that the draw-downs from his accounts, were less than the total amounts of payments to AMEX on the outstanding bills?

The Premier explained the J&T bank paid his AMEX bill and he paid the bank. This raised the spectre of the relationship between The Premier and the owners or principals of the bank, particularly because he had no account there. It raised similar questions about Arling Anstalt, which seemed to pay portions of The Premier’s bills.

Milne asked The Premier: “You say your assets outweigh your liabilities?” “Yes”, said The Premier. Milne answered: “we will see”.

Milne left the day’s proceedings with a question hanging in the air by means of the following exchange:

MILNE: Can I ask one other question, and I don't invite your answer today. You may consider this overnight as well.
PREMIER: “Yes.”
MILNE: With many of these payments, the unexplained payments, the payments in are large, sometimes very large round figures: $10,000, $20,000, $25,000, $30,000, $50,000 at a time.
PREMIER: Yes.
MILNE: I would suggest to you, and I would invite your comment not today but tomorrow, that that is entirely consistent and would appear to suggest payments in cash?
PREMIER: No!

With that, and the question in the audience’s mind that Milne must have evidence to contradict The Premier’s answer. Mr. Justice Sir Robin Auld said, with a fox’s slyness, “I think that’s enough”. The audience murmured “no, no. Auld ended the day’s proceedings with that.