THE appeal of Justice Anita Allen's ruling on a case which was presided over by Justice John Lyons will be heard this Monday. Appeal Court Justices Dame Joan Sawyer, Emmanuel Osadebay and Hartman Longley will hear the appeal.
The case involves a fight over $100million between Israel-born brothers Rami and Amir Weissfisch. The brothers are both permanent residents of The Bahamas. Lawyers for Rami have claimed that Justice Allen should recuse herself from the case on the grounds of her being biased. In her ruling, Justice Allen rejected the request for her to step down. She also commented on the actions in the case of Justice Lyons. She said that he had appointed accountant Daniel Ferguson to examine the two brothers' financials even though Justice Lyons was dating Ferguson's sister Shontell Ferguson at the time. She also pointed out that Ferguson was not qualified to conduct a forensic accountancy examination of the brothers' finances. Yet, he was allegedly paid $6million for supposedly compiling an "inadequate" report on the finances. And his sister Shontell was one of the team who worked on compiling the report. Justice Lyons recused himself from the brothers' case in September 2008. He reportedly said he was too busy to preside over the case any longer. Rami Weisfisch, 62, is represented by Wayne Munroe and PLP MP Philip "Brave" Davis. Rami was reportedly a big donor to the PLP's election campaign in 2007. He resides at Bay Roc apartments on Cable Beach. He also has a $20million house in Palm Beach, Florida. His younger brother Amir lives in Lyford Cay. He bought the home on a canal in LyCay from a member of the Bacardi family. At one point, the brothers were among the leading traders of metals in the world.
Originally published in The Punch, 20 April 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment