Said Musa
Businessman Luke Espat is personally liable to the Belize Bank to the tune of twenty-nine point four million dollars. That’s the ruling which was handed down this afternoon by the Court of Appeal. Espat was before the court with his attorney, Said Musa, seeking leave to appeal a decision handed down by Justice Courtney Abel in November of 2013. In that judgment Justice Abel referred to the case brought by Espat as a smokescreen. The debt covers loans to three of Espat’s companies, namely Indeco Enterprises, Belize Crocodile and Reptile Breeders and Belize Ready Mix Concrete. Espat signed personal guarantees for those loans. This morning submissions were made by Musa for Espat and Godfrey Smith for Belize Bank Limited, after which Court took a recess until two this afternoon. We spoke to both Musa and Espat outside the courtroom this morning. They were both hoping for good news from the Court of Appeal.
Said Musa, Attorney for Luke Espat
“We are appealing a decision made by the supreme court Justice Abel in which he held my client Mr. Luke Espat liable personally for the debts of his companies to the Belize Bank because of certain guarantees that they are saying he signed. What Mr. Espat has been saying all along is that he signed these guarantees long after the loans were incurred by the companies…that he had a group of companies…that he was in partnership with principals of the Belize Bank with the Port…and that the Port was the main company involved in the matter. The misrepresentation came about when the President of the bank made certain representations to him that – sign these guarantees…it’s just to satisfy the Central Bank…we won’t hold you personally liable. That’s basically what the background is all about.”
Luke Espat, Businessman
Luke Espat
“There’s law as it’s literally interpreted and there’s the reality of the agreements that made whatever possible, possible in the development process of what we were doing. It’s like when the pressure comes down everybody grabs their marbles and runs. And I think this is a typical case of exactly what happened under this regime. This would not have happened. The principal income earner of the group was and is the Port of Belize, which is still existing and is still earning. To have broken off the bits and pieces as what has been done by the lenders was all done as part and parcel of agreements that we had. The difficulty of law is hard to prove unless we have the opportunity for a trial. That is being determined today.”
Reporter
“If leave for appeal is not granted this afternoon at two…what legal recourse would Mr. Espat have at that time?”
Said Musa
“That would be the end of it. He would be liable to the bank under his guarantees.”
As we said, the court declared that Espat is personally responsible for the twenty-nine million dollars, but as we understand it, there is no deadline imposed on Espat for payment of the debt. The Bank is, however, free to pursue its monies as it sees fit.
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