By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

LAWYERS for suspended NIB Director Algernon Cargill said they were shocked that auditors refused to meet with their client to give him the opportunity to defend himself against claims in the finished report that might not have been in his best interest.

Taking legal action against the government-contracted audit team of Grant Thornton and others is an option on the table, they said.

Mr Cargill’s lawyers pointed out that the Auditors “who have a professional duty of fairness as finders of fact, refused to meet with our client and afford him an opportunity to be heard and rebut any material adverse to his interests.”

Although National Insurance Minister Sean Gibson had told the press the report, submitted to the government on March 24, would be laid on the table of the House at Wednesday’s meeting, he instead announced a further delay.

Mr Gibson said government was “giving Mr Cargill an opportunity to respond” to the “adverse findings” in the report, “before NIB decides what their next step is.”

“So soon as he has had an opportunity to respond, which is 14 days, and the board has had an opportunity to make a decision as to how they will proceed, then the report will be tabled in Parliament,” Mr Gibson said.

Up until Tuesday evening – on the eve of the House meeting – Mr Cargill had not seen the report. His lawyer, Alfred Sears is off the island until May 6.

A letter written to Mr Cargill’s lawyers inviting Mr Cargill to a meeting to discuss the adverse findings, was delivered to the law firm late on the afternoon of April 25 —three working days before Mr Gibson had promised that the completed report would be laid on the House’s table.

In a letter of reply, dated April 30 – on the eve of the House meeting – Mr Cargill’s lawyers told NIB that their “client reserves the right to pursue his remedies, including judicial review, against the auditors and others for breach of his right to due process of law, negligent misrepresentation and further damage to his reputation. We hereby put you on notice that any further publication of this Report will be the basis of a claim for aggravated damages.”

Although Mr Gibson did not mention this letter, he told the House that there was no telling when the forensic audit would be made available for public scrutiny.

When The Tribune contacted Mr Cargill, he said that upon the instructions of his lawyers, he could not speak. He then said The Tribune should contact one of the Sears firm’s lawyers, either Mrs Marion Bethel or Mr Jeff Lloyd. Mrs Bethel said she was not “in a position to speak publicly on the matter.”

While Mr Cargill has agreed to meet with several NIB representatives, the letter outlined a list of demands to be met before the matter can move forward.

Of the stipulations was that a full auditor’s report be provided to Mr Cargill. The report, The Tribune understands was delivered to Sears & Co on Wednesday evening.

Mr Cargill is also to be accompanied at the meeting by his attorneys, a consulting forensic accountant, and former NIB Chairman Patrick Ward.

Mr Cargill also wants a stenographer in attendance to properly document discussions at the meeting. The transcripts are then to be provided to the attorneys within five days.

Additionally they are requesting that the meeting be held in a neutral location other than NIB’s headquarters on Baillou Hill Road.

If all of the conditions are agreed, Mr Cargill has made himself available for a meeting after May 6, when lead attorney Alfred Sears returns to the Bahamas.