THE STATE has retained a leading King’s Counsel in the practice of proceeds-of-crime civil recovery and money laundering to defend the $96 million claim for an alleged breach of an indemnity agreement with the Government filed by Jamaican-born tax attorney Vincent Nelson, KC. The matter was called on Tuesday morning before Justice Jacqueline Wilson, and
ATTORNEY General Reginald Armour, SC, has thanked senior counsel Gilbert Peterson and Douglas Mendes for the “skill, professionalism and value” which they brought in defending the $96 million claim by King’s Counsel Vincent Nelson. In a statement Tuesday night, Armour confirmed the two returned their briefs as lead counsel in for the State. He said
Gerald Smith has won agreement from a judge to issue a “certificate of inadequacy” after the Serious Fraud Office accepted that he will be at least £30 million short of clearing his arrears. The let-off for Smith was agreed during a commercial court hearing in London over the ownership of tens of millions of pounds of assets obtained in deals conducted by him and others, including the Formula One investor Andy Ruhan. The Serious Fraud Office is seeking to win the right to some of the money, which includes millions of pounds worth of homes in London and elsewhere, and the remaining proceeds of a series of complex property deals carried out via a web of transactions involving offshore companies and intermediaries.