ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer has revealed that Antigua & Barbuda is fighting a US $6 million lawsuit in the United States, over the issuance of promissory notes signed under the then Antigua Labour Party administration.
Dan Abraham Safati, the son of infamous businessman Maurice Safati, is seeking to recover the sum of US $1 million for breaches of four promissory notes issued to his father and a related guarantee concerning Roydan Ltd.
With interest, Spencer said those promissory notes, signed by the ALP, are now valued at US $6 million.
“So these people sue us in Washington for six million US dollars, signed off by the then minister of agriculture. They are now saying to us that you have to fork-up the money, and we are fighting the issue obviously,” Spencer said at the recent public meeting of his ruling UPP.
He told supporters, this and other legal battles that the UPP has had to fight because of the actions of the ALP, should disqualify the Bird-led party from assuming the ranks of power here.
The claim alleges that Roydan Ltd, in June 1987, provided the government, specifically the Ministry of Agriculture, headed then by Vere Bird Jr, with funding and equipment to develop land for farming.
The Ministry of Finance guaranteed the four promissory notes, each for US $250,000. Note three was later sold to Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc in Puerto Rico and the others remained unpaid.
They were due on June 2, 1990; June 10, 1990 and June 30, 1990. According to exhibits filed, the agreements, which were identical save for the due dates, noted that over the course of three years until the notes were due, the interest would have been fixed at 6 per cent per annum and compounded.
(More in today’s Daily OBSERVER)
ALP thought they would be in government forever, they thought that Antigua was theirs to do with as they pleased. OMG!
I hope this is not the icing and we haven’t cut the cake as yet! If there is more misbehaviour to come just tell me please, what are Antiguans to do?
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It doesn’t matter that the ALP was in power at the time. These are bonds issued by ANTIGUA by the elected representatives at the time. According to this article this man is legitimately owed this money based on the notes he bought in 87. This is just short sightedness and money grabbing coming back to bite us in the a**.
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