ASHTON Chase, the Senior Counsel in the ongoing New Building Society (NBS) fraud case has written the Ombudsman, Justice Winston Moore and Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon to register concerns over the fact that the contents of the report have been publicised even before the report has been made public. 

This was according to a reliable source close to the matter, who told this newspaper that two separate letters were penned recently.
Knowledge of the letters comes after the Ombudsman, who compiled and reportedly released the report before it was made public, submitted the controversial 25-page document of a $69M fraud case at the NBS in 2006, to the Clerk of the National Assembly, last week.
The letter to the Ombudsman, seen by the Guyana Chronicle, states that NBS has been done a “grave injustice” in having the information of the report publicised before its public release.
“Our clients are concerned at being stigmatised by you and the comments made in a report by you, parts of which are published…our clients consider it most unfair that such comments should be made when they were never invited by you to give their versions of the matter.
“…moreover, as you are no doubt aware, a case is currently being heard in the court, the matter is sub judice and to be so subjected is a serious disadvantage to them (the clients), and a breach of the most basic judicial principles…a careful, if not sedulous, examination is expected of an Ombudsman, more so a retired Judge.”
A copy of this letter was promised to be made available to Dr. Luncheon.
The second letter to the Head of the Presidential Secretariat says: “It seems that the publications arise from an initial report of the Ombudsman into our clients’ (NBS) business, a report that has not yet been made public. In the first instance, until made public, the report should not be published and appropriate steps of restraint ought to be taken by the authorities, including the Ombudsman.
“…moreover, certain statements and comments made by the Ombudsman are prejudicial to our clients, especially bearing in mind that they are part of proceedings before the High Court….the Ombudsman, having regard to his career, should know the damage inflicted.”

MOVING TO COURT
The source added that Chase is awaiting a response before moving to the High Court.
Last week, it was indicated that the Labour Minister Dr. Nanda Gopaul would move to the High Court this week to contest the grounds on which the Ombudsman compiled and allegedly released a 25-page report on the case of a $69M fraud case at the NBS.
The report addressed what has been termed by the Ombudsman as “wrongful” fraud charges against the NBS former Chief Executive, Officer Maurice Arjoon and two former senior managers, Kent Vincent and Kissoon Baldeo.
The fraud was said to have been committed in late 2006. The three men were fired in 2007 after an investigation, which concluded that there was dereliction of duty, negligence and/or serious misconduct. Following that, charges were laid against them.
The managers have since challenged the Society’s decision to terminate their employment, among other things, and the matter is currently before the courts.
The subsequent Ombudsman’s report on the matter was released about a week ago.
Regarding the Labour Minister’s move to the High Court, after the Ombudsman’s report was made public, the Guyana Chronicle was reliably informed by a source close to the matter that the relevant court documents have already been prepared by the lawyers.
The source added that the grounds on which the matter is being contested include the fact that: the NBS is a private entity; the Directors of NBS are elected from its membership; the Ombudsman cannot investigate the actions of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), since that office is insulated by the Constitution; and that the Ombudsman failed to observe the sub-judice rule.

SUB-JUDICE PRINCIPLE IGNORED
Additionally, Dr. Luncheon, last Wednesday responded to queries about the issue and his main point of concern was the fact that the principle of sub-judice was ignored, which is even more worrying considering the fact that the Ombudsman is a former judge.
Dr. Luncheon said: “I believe that the principle, this sub-judice principle has been ignored….this is a matter that is being heard before the High Court and I cannot understand how could another judge, the Ombudsman is a former judge, could have ignored the sub-judice principle.”
The HPS also raised concerns about the contents of the report being made public, given that it was not officially released by the Ombudsman.
“It seems to be that the report may not have been officially released by the Ombudsman and somehow it has been leaked…it [the leak] has distressed them [the Board and membership of the NBS],” he said.
Dr. Luncheon added that he has not paid much attention to the findings of the report, since the more important question is how the report was made public.
“I haven’t paid any mind to the findings, I am more concerned with the reaction of the NBS board and if the Ombudsman asserts that this report is not official then the question is, who leaked the report,” he said.
In addition to Gopaul’s action, the NBS fraud case is expected to come up again before the High Court soon.