Iranian businessman Mohammed Harajchi has taken his fight to get back his bank license to the Privy Council in London as hundreds of depositors continue to demand the assets they invested in Suisse Security Bank & Trust Ltd (SSBT) more than four years ago.
The depositors are reportedly growing increasingly angry by the fact that the matter has been dragging on for so long.
A source close to the matter said that the depositors are also angry at Bahamian authorities, and the whole affair is giving the country a bad name in international circles.
The Bahama Journal has learnt that the Central Bank also sought the Supreme Court’s permission to complete the winding up of the bank, but has so far been unsuccessful in that attempt.
Mr. Harajchi’s legal team reportedly insisted that this would be improper given that an appeal is still outstanding.
Former governor of the Central Bank Julian Francis revoked the bank’s license on April 2, 2001 after determining that SSBT was carrying on its business in a manner detrimental to the public interest and the interest of depositors or other creditors.
The court soon appointed Raymond Winder provisional liquidator, granting him the powers to collect the bank’s assets. But Mr. Winder is not empowered to disburse any of those assets to depositors.
If the Supreme Court were to order the bank wound up, Mr. Winder, as the official liquidator, would have more powers in his role.
A source close to the matter told The Bahama Journal that for now Mr. Winder’s hands are tied as he waits for the Supreme Court or the Privy Council to make the next move.
It is not clear whether Mr. Harajchi’s legal team has yet secured a court date before the Privy Council.
Meanwhile, Sonia Harajchi, Mr. Harajchi’s wife, has filed suit in the Supreme Court seeking to gain control of certain of the bank’s assets, namely the furniture that was in the building.
Still convinced that the Central Bank governor acted unlawfully in revoking his bank’s license, Mr. Harajchi decided to take his case to the high court in London after the Court of Appeal on June 29, 2004 reaffirmed the 2003 judgment of Supreme Court Justice Austin Davis who ruled that SSBT had failed to prove any grounds of its appeal against the governor’s decision.
The Court of Appeal said that Governor Francis acted in conformity with the law when he revoked the license of Suisse Security.
Suisse Security wanted the Court to determine that Supreme Court Justice Hartman Longley erred in holding that the governor’s power to suspend and revoke SSBT’s license was exercised in accordance with the Bank and Trust Companies Act 2000.
The bank argued that under law, it should have received notice about the revocation and should have been afforded the opportunity to state its objection in writing. But the court said this was not necessary, as pointed out by the Central Bank, because of certain practical reasons, including preventing loss to depositors and a run on the bank.
Mr. Harajchi has been a controversial figure, particularly since his license was revoked. Last summer, he launched a blistering attack on the Christie Administration, inferring that he financially helped Prime Minister Perry Christie while he was leader of the Official Opposition, and claiming that he contributed a substantial amount of money to the PLP’s 2002 election campaign.
Mr. Harajchi also attacked Mr. Francis following the revocation, suggesting that he had lost the license because he declined to do a personal favour for the then governor. It was a claim that Mr. Francis vehemently denied.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
