So, earlier in the week - the big news was all about the 78 million US dollars that government has to find to pay off the Ashcroft Alliance in a week's time. It's the final payment for the acquisition of BTL - so, that should put an end to 8 years of costly legal battles. The Ashcroft Alliance emerged with about half a billion dollars in compensation and you sort of get the sense, Lord Ashcroft wouldn't feel too bad taking a victory lap.
But, not quite yet, because just when you thought this one was over - it isn't, not quite yet. That's because there's still the matter of the Sunshine Shares. If you don't remember those - don't feel too bad. That dates way back to 2005 when in another one of those special deals - Social Security loaned 10 million dollars to Sunshine Holdings, an Ashcroft company, under highly concessionary terms. Sunshine used that money to acquire shares in BTL.
Well, when Government acquired BTL, they also acquired Sunshine's BTL shares. Now, government is saying that part of the compensation paid out to Ashcroft - has to go back to Sunshine - which, if you follow the logic, is sort of like the government paying itself.
So, in order to get that compensation, Government would have to start a new round of litigation against the Ashcroft Alliance, which will have collected all the compensation by next week.
The Prime Minister explained the position on Wednesday:
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow- Prime Minister
"That compensation in your hands, Mr. Trust, you're holding that in trust for Sunshine. Because it doesn't matter that you owned or you had the shares in Sunshine at the time. Sunshine is a separate legal vehicle, and the compensation should be paid to Sunshine. Alternatively, even if the compensation isn't paid to Sunshine, you can't get the compensation for the shares, for which we borrowed money to buy, and leave us with the liability to pay back the investment loans.
"So at the very least, we want you to pay back to Sunshine what was borrowed form SSB so that Sunshine can in turn pay. So, I said the saga is finished. The saga is finished insofar as GOB and the Ashcroft Alliance is concerned but Sunshine, my understanding is, will launch an action in the Supreme Court of Belize with that end in mind, to try to get the compensation or at least an amount to pay back SSB the money borrowed for the investment."
This case will now start in the Supreme Court.
