The Saint Francis Xavier Credit Union was taken over by an Central Bank appointed administrator on Friday - effectively ejecting the board and general manager from their positions of control of the decision making and daily affairs of the country's second largest credit union.
They've already lawyered up by retaining Dean Barrow to file for judicial review of the decision made by the Registrar of Credit Unions. And today they went on the offensive with a press conference held via Zoom where Jules Vasquez had the tough questions for them.
The President started with a declaration that they tried to muzzle him:
Everaldo Puk, President, SFXCU
"I few minutes ago I received a letter from the Governor General stating that I should not be talking, but I cannot be silence, because our membership needs to know what is going on."
Raphael Dominguez, Suspended GM, SFXCU
"We feel that the Central Bank have conducted a dictatorship manner and I believe that the members need to know about that."
Everaldo Puk, President, SFXCU
"They have not rested us, constant supervision, constant demands and there we were almost every day of the week trying to satisfy the governor with all the things he wanted from us. But he was very clear in an interview I understand. he's saying that the real issue is a bill that we paid for an attorney which he continues saying that we were paying fees for Mr. Raphael. Apart from that Mr. Raphael has also gone to an attorney, because he was illegally dismissed and after were in the office the bill came, because somebody had to pay the bill. The man character was damaged with all the interviews and releases and radio talks that were given and there was compensation to be paid and so the board agreed that we were going to pay compensation and pay for damages to the sum of $35,000. That is what the governor wants us to recall back."
Mayet Castillo, Chairman of Supervisory Committee
"I believe that its the members who are sole owners of an institution demand from the board certain things, we or the board is mandated to do just that and they demanded re-instatement of Mr. Dominguez. They found legal advice, so they have to pay for whatever is done. Nothing is free nowadays."
Raphael Dominguez, Suspended GM, SFXCU
"I am the target that the board has facilitated to have paid that money in claims of lawyers fee for the general manager. That is totally false."
Jules Vasquez
"The Central Bank asserts that those legal fees were paid in defence of Mr. Dominguez's position that he should have been re-instated. So the Central Bank's argument is that its he who should pay that, not the board of directors."
Raphael Dominguez, Suspended GM, SFXCU
"There has been no payment to any lawyer approved by the board of directors on my behalf or any charges from legal claims. This has been strictly for services rendered to the credit union requested by the board that has to do nothing with the general manager."
Jules Vasquez
"At the board meeting of 12th and 17th August a unanimous decision was made by the board to pay legal fees for 2 invoices as we've discussed. The minutes stated, according to Central Bank that this amount represented consultation of illegal termination of the general manager Mr. Raphael Dominguez Sr. The president of the board, they say confirmed that the legal fees were in deed paid. So, it says in the minutes that it has to do with your termination Mr. Dominguez."
Raphael Dominguez, Suspended GM, SFXCU
"I am going to repeat again, Jules what I just mentioned, there might have been an oversight of what is in the minutes, but there is no record that can show on behalf of the lawyer charging the credit union for any services in consultation or any claim that has to do in wrongful termination to the general manager."
Jules Vasquez
"However, you do realize, I'm sure you all are aware of how corporate governance works that the minutes of the company are the record of what a company or corporation does. So, if the minutes are not in agreement with your understanding or your interpretation, you can see how that can be a fundamental problem."
Everaldo Puk, President, SFXCU
"The minutes rightly reflecting the payments of compensation and damages that we actually paid to Mr. Dominguez. Maybe that what they are referring to."
Jules Vasquez
"Those are the minutes of 5th October. We'll get to that. The minutes of 5th October recorded that the board gave approval for the payment of $75,000 to the general manager for grave and egregious defamation of his professional character by the previous board. How can the company have to pay its own general manager? The board makes a decision that we defamed you. Yes, the personalities may be different, but the body corporate remains in perpetual succession. How can a corporate body say, we, the board defamed you? And we are now going to vote to re-imburse you $75,000 or to pay you $75,000 for defamation to an outsider. Perhaps, I'm not seeing the whole picture, but to an outsider. That seems a bit odd, if not outrageous. How do you all justify that?"
Everaldo Puk, President, SFXCU
"Well, we did seek legal advice and we submitted those legal advice to the Central Bank as to why those monies had to be paid."
Jules Vasquez
"So, he was removed as general manager in June of 2022. Why was he still compensated retroactively for a month in which he did not work? Mr. Dominguez you were paid $11,000 for the month of June 2022 when you were not the general manager."
Everaldo Puk, President, SFXCU
"He was illegally removed and so we re-instated him and we decided that we were going to pay him for the time he was...."
Jules Vasquez
"Okay, that's sounds like an emotional decision. I'm saying that if he did not work during that time, why would be compensated? I understand you feel he was terminated illegally. However, he wasn't showing up for work, so why would he be paid for working $11,000?"
Mayet Castillo, Chairman of Supervisory Committee
"You see Mr. Jules, they had no mandate to do that. We are saying that he was illegally removed from his position, because in the act it states that only the members can do such thing and apart from that before his contract was finish, they removed from that position."
We'll have more from the press conference in tomorrow's newscast.
