Appeal made by three facing sanctions for work with Providence
The long-running affair over the Providence Group, found guilty of perpetrating a Ponzi scheme as an investment proposition locally, has been back in court as three men once associated with the collapsed company have appeared in the Court of Appeal.
Robin Fuller, Adam Tattersall and Patrick Barry Moroney had sanctions imposed on them by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission for their licensed involvement in companies associated with the Providence Group, which operated in Guernsey for a few years before it was found that an investment opportunity it offered was a fraud.
Island residents lost hundreds of thousands of pounds in the scheme and have received only a fraction of their investments back from the liquidators.
The three men initially appealed against the decisions of the GFSC to impose sanctions on them following the recommendations of senior decision-maker Glen Davis KC. Their initial appeal was heard by the Bailiff, Sir Richard McMahon.
While he rejected the appeal, Sir Richard said that the GFSC should reconsider the recommended sanctions.
Last week the men went to the Court of Appeal to ask it to reject the Bailiff’s judgment.
The three appellants’ previous appeal before the Bailiff had taken place in camera under a law, now superseded, which allowed them to remain anonymous.
Despite a further appeal to the Court of Appeal for this new action to be held in camera, this was rejected.
The Bailiff dismissed the appellants’ appeals, save in respect of their appeals against the sanctions. He ordered that the judgment would not be published beyond the parties and their legal advisers. The GFSC itself also made a cross-appeal in court last week in relation to the Bailiff’s judgment.
‘It is not appropriate at this juncture to set out all the reasons why we believe aspects of the Royal Court’s judgment in this matter should not stand, because those are matters which are best weighed by the Court of Appeal,’ said a GFSC spokeswoman.
‘Suffice it to say that while we appreciate that the Royal Court found, like us, that in all cases, the appellants failed to meet the minimum criteria for licensing, there are other legal aspects of the Royal Court judgment which are the subject of the appeal.’
In introducing the three Court of Appeal judges to the case, Advocate Jason Hill, representing the GFSC, said that former Providence director Steve Dewsnip would not be taking part in the hearing even though his name appeared in the court papers.
The hearing has concluded but a decision is not expected to be announced for several weeks.
