The deafening silence by the Central Bank following the dismissal of Clico chairman Gerald Yetming and managing director Carolyn John continues.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank has yet to submit its report to Finance Minister Larry Howai on the circumstances which led to the removal of Yetming and John and the multimillion-dollar payout made to former Clico directors.
Yesterday, sources close to the matter confirmed that Howai was still waiting on the bank’s report to assess what led to the debacle.
Howai had requested a formal report from both Yetming and Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran after differing versions of what led to the payouts emerged. Yetming claimed he was made a scapegoat after he was dismissed.
Rambarran is yet to publicly respond to Yetming’s claims.
The Sunday Guardian understands that Howai has received a ten-page report from the former Clico chairman, with supporting emails, a timeline of events, and papers, documenting correspondences and reports between himself and the Central Bank.
Yesterday, Yetming confirmed that he had submitted his report to Howai on the Clico matter. He, however, declined to share details of the report.
He said he gave Howai a commitment that he would not release his report until Central Bank had submitted its report. He said one could only speculate about the Central Bank’s delay in submitting its report to Howai.
This issue came to light following concerns over the payment of some $36,188,690.90 to four former Clico directors—Ian Garcia and his company Events Unlimited; Clinton Ramberansingh and his connected parties (Bianca Ramberansingh and Martina De Silva); Vishnu Ramlogan; and Nigel Salina and his company Nigel Salina and Associates. They were among ten identified as being paid $48.5 million.
Subsequent to this, Central Bank issued a release earlier this month defending the payments. However, a mere 48 hours later Yetming and John were summarily removed from their post by the Central Bank.
Central Bank’s senior manager, Strategic Communications and International Relations, Charlene Ramdhanie did not respond to the Sunday Guardian’s emailed questions nor did Howai. Calls to John’s cellphone went straight to voicemail.
Peter Permell, chairman of the Clico policyholders group, has expressed concern over the number of vacant posts on the board of directors at the company and the delay in continuing payments.