Gov’t awaiting decision from US court regarding former attorney in BVI Airways case
Government is now awaiting a decision in the US District Court of Columbia in the Pre-Action Discovery application filed against government’s former attorney Lester Hyman, who is alleged to have been a director in BVI Airways.
Effectively, a Pre-Action Discovery is a court procedure in which an applicant (in this case, government) seeks to obtain information from a respondent (from Hyman). Typically, the applicant hopes to use this information to assist in deciding whether to take proceedings against a potential party.
“Mr Hyman has opposed the application,” Premier Andrew Fahie said in a recent sitting of the House of Assembly recently. “The matter now lies before Senior District Court Judge Royce C Lamberth for a decision.”
He also said that further action will be taken against Hyman in a local court following the conclusion of the discovery proceedings in Washington DC.
“The government intends to bring an action against Mr Hyman before the BVI High Court for damages based on his conduct in representing the government in connection with the events leading up to and following the signing of the Framework Agreement with BVA,” Premier Fahie explained.
Disciplinary complaint filed to Bar
The Premier further said that government’s legal representative in the case, Martin Kenny and Co Solicitors (MKS), also filed disciplinary complaints against Hyman in January 2020.
Hyman — who provided legal counsel for the BVI for 30 years before being relieved of duties in 2017.
He reportedly was the person who introduced the company and its promoters to the BVI government in 2014.
“Disciplinary complaints were filed against Mr Hyman by an MKS Attorney with the Bars of the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts alleging a number of legal professional ethical violations on the part of Mr Hyman in connection with his representation of Government in respect of the BVA matter,” the Premier stated.
The leader of government business has assured that all rights available to his administration will be used to determine all who benefitted from the 7.2 million of taxpayer dollars that was invested in the airline.
He also said the aim is to successfully recover all of the funds from the botched airline deal
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
Old boy will not go down alone. Time will tell!
How much payola did the Hyman receive? Is the Hyman aware of any payola going to BVI Officials or perhaps their BVI Companies or perhaps their family member’s BVI Companies? How many BVI and other offshore companies do the former BVI Officials own? Shouldn’t that be disclosed when they take office and for 5 years after they leave?
The NDP was really c*****t.
This is a crying shame.
The Governor should be held responsible also.
Why ? Is the contract made by Smith and co ?
Does the public have a right to see the contract? Does the public have the right to see when payments were made? Does the public have the right to see who the payments were made to?
It is astonishing to me that in signing that contract the previous Government did not secure from the other party in the contract some kind of security such as a ‘Letter of guarantee or a standby letter of credit. This is a standard way of doing business