fp Turks and Caicos

Salt Cay developer Mario Hoffmann says he is disappointed that former Gov. Gordon Wetherell published the full version of the final report of Sir Robin Auld’s Commission of Inquiry before his court appeals are exhausted.

Hoffmann and Dr. Cem Kinay, developer of Dellis Cay, both objected to the release of the report in 2009, saying that they weren’t given the proper opportunity to present their cases before Sir Robin made a number of allegations against both men.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon Ward agreed, and the government redacted mention of both men from the report and released it July 18, 2009. However, the redactions were easily removed, and the unredacted report was widely distributed on the Internet website wikileaks.org.

The government removed the report from its website while Hoffmann appealed its release in TCI courts. Once those appeals were exhausted, Wetherell published the full report Aug. 19 on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s TCI website.

However, Hoffmann still has one last shot in an appeal to the Privy Council.

“I have consistently maintained that the process adopted by the commission was not fair in relation to me and violates my rights under the laws and treaties of the Crown and the TCI, as well as my rights as a citizen of the European Union,” Hoffmann said in a statement received by the fp on Sept. 1.

“I will continue to try both to vindicate my rights through the legal system and to clear my name and defend my reputation — opportunities I believe were not given to me during the course of the Commission of Inquiry proceedings.”

Some of the same allegations made in the inquiry report have been realleged in a government civil action filed against Hoffmann’s Devco companies.

In a case set for trial later this year, the government is seeking to halt the Salt Cay development and take back 239 acres of Crown land that was leased for $1 per acre. The claim alleges that former Premier Michael Misick, his brother Chal Misick, and former Minister McAllister Hanchell all benefited from the deal in “a series of corrupt transactions.”

The transactions have also been under scrutiny by the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team assembled to consider allegations made in the inquiry report and other matters.