$2 Million Conflict of Interest
Recently one of the Caribbean’s most prestigious and influential businesses, CL Financial went bankrupt, prompting a bailout and takeover from the Trinidad and Tobago government.
Former chairman of CL Financial Lawrence Duprey is like the dog with the bone in his mouth that dived into the river because he envied the dog in the river with the “bigger bone”. He was not satisfied with being the most successful insurance company within his home country, so he stretched the influence of the company to the region, and then even to the US. Then he diversified the insurance company into other areas such as the energy, real estate industry, even alcohol all using the assets and resources of the original little insurance company.
Such wild and risky behaviour may be allowed in normal conditions, but now we are of course experiencing the economic downturn. Duprey was therefore punished with failure.
The infamous Minister of Finance in T&T with nothing more than a law degree Karen Nunez-Tesheira is presiding over the bailout and handling case of CL Financial. She came under fire earlier because it has been revealed that she conveniently withdrew large investments from the company just before they collapsed. Of course, she defended that, and there were no rammifications or further investigations.
NOW it has been revealed by local journalists, not by the Minister herself, even after this situation has spanned several weeks giving her ample opportunity to do so, that she actually has 10,140 shares in CL Financial! These shares are valued at almost $2 MILLION US DOLLARS!!
Yet the woman is there on the television unabashedly discussing the matters of CL Financial.
I'm not losing my $2 million US just like that you know?
To add a few more laughs to this undoubtedly funny issue, Lawrence Duprey, former chairman of the failed CL-wildly-invest-money-in-everything-imaginable-Financial is now DEFENDING HER.
“But of what relevance is that?” Duprey asked.
Don’t be ridiculous. Let’s be practical. Why? Her husband worked for the company from the time he left school and she may have inherited some shares from him. The woman most likely had those shares innocently. What conflict of interest? Let’s grow up.”
Obviously apart from proper financial management, this asshole doesn’t understand ethics either. We don’t leave things like that to chance or benefit of the doubt. There is no shortage of government officials or technocrats to oversee the bailout of CL Financial, so why leave it to someone that has a considerable amount of money invested in the company?
We already know she isn’t qualified to be a Finance Minister, now her behaviour disqualifies her from just being a Minister on the whole. The worst part of all this is : nothing happens. By tomorrow life will go on, and clearly the most obvious and terrible case of conflict of interest that I’ve ever seen will continue unchallenged.
*Update* As if this wasn’t scandalous enough, it was reported that DIVIDENDS were paid out to shareholders of CL Financial AFTER they received the government bail-out. Ms. Nunez- Tesheira received over $30,00 in dividends from the company she BAILED OUT!!!
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I am following this story with great interest. You are one of the few Trinbagonian bloggers covering it. So far, I encountered posts at these two blogs:
Jyoti Communication – There are three posts on the topic including this one. “More calls for Nunez-Tesheira to resign”
Kilkaytay Every Stone – Una Nunez’s estate settlement: fastest ever?
If you know of any others, I’d be very grateful if you’d let me know. Nothing that I have heard so far from the Minister or her defenders has explained away the conflict of interest charge and I wish that people would stop trying to blow smoke by questioning Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s motives and integrity. That is another matter completely unrelated to this one.
They must answer the question about the conflict of interest because it is THE issue which reappears again and again in most cases of corruption in government. Officials are NOT being held accountable for tragic decisions which may seem inexplicably stupid to the uninformed but are the result of dealmaking in their own or their partners’ interests while ignoring the interests of the people they were elected to serve. We will see where this goes.
Blessings
nope, don’t know any others besides those two. You know how apathetic Trinis are once a party isn’t involved.