Brother sues sister for £1m.
A BROTHER is suing his sister for about £1m. after it was claimed that she refused to pay back money he loaned her to buy a house and equestrian centre in France.
John Garfield loaned his sister Judith Glass-Garfield £300,000 in 2000 – the equivalent of 450,000 euros at that time. They had agreed that she would pay 4.5% interest a year and the money would be paid back by 2010.
The civil court heard that Mrs Glass-Garfield claimed Mr Garfield travelled to France and she repaid the money to him between 2004 and 2006 in large denomination notes in A4 envelopes as her brother was trying to avoid paying tax. Appearing via Skype to the courtroom from her home in France, she said that she had not originally mentioned the repayment as a defence against the claim because her lawyers had preferred to look at different legal avenues.
But Advocate Mark Dunster, representing Mr Garfield, said this repayment was a late invention and, if it was true, she should prove it, with bank statements or witnesses who loaned her the money.
‘A changing story is not a credible story,’ he said.
Advocate Dunster said his client was fully tax compliant, which was backed up by a statement from his accountant.
He added that Mr Garfield had been in contact with his sister in the early 2000s, but knowing she could not afford to pay the loan interest, the interest was accrued.
Mr Garfield said he maintained contact over the years, but Mrs Glass-Garfield said there was no contact after 2006 for a decade.
Mrs Glass-Garfield also claimed interest was waived since 2004. But she is being sued for about £1m., which includes the interest her brother says he is owed.
The money was initially held in a trust in Guernsey, but this was wound up in 2004 and the loan was continued between the siblings. As the 2010 deadline passed, Mr Garfield claimed he had not demanded the money back as he knew his sister could not repay. Then in a phone call in 2015 he claimed his sister’s partner had grabbed the phone while he was talking to his sister and said ‘you are out of time, you can’t get the money anymore, goodbye.’
But Mrs Glass-Garfield said she had no contact with her brother at this time and denied the call took place.
In Guernsey no legal case can be heard six years after a loan deadline unless it is unjust, while the period in France in shorter. Advocate Dunster argued that the court should show discretion in this case.
He said his client had been told by his sister that she was trying to sell her property to repay the loan, but was facing some difficulties.
‘He knew she could only repay it by the sale of the property,’ he said.
‘Is it odd that he should wait while being told, yes, you will be repaid, and you know the only way I can is the sale of the property.’
The case is being heard before Lieutenant-Bailiff Hazel Marshall and the jurats and continues this week.
