AIC chief sues over Trinidad bribery allegations

Saturday, January 17, 2004

TORONTO, Canada: According to a report by the Globe and Mail, Canadian billionaire Michael Lee-Chin is at the centre of a political storm in Trinidad and Tobago over allegations that he bribed a cabinet minister to help secure the purchase of a state-owned bank.

Mr. Lee-Chin said yesterday he is stunned by the allegations and he has filed a libel action against the Trinidadian member of Parliament who raised them.

"This is crazy," said Mr. Lee-Chin who is chief executive officer of mutual fund giant AIC Ltd. "My reaction was, where the hell did this come from?" 

The controversy started last Friday when Gerald Yetming, a former finance minister and opposition MP, told the House of Commons in the Caribbean country that Mr. Lee-Chin paid a bribe as part payment for 20 per cent of state-owned First Citizens Bank, or FCB. 

The government of Trinidad is considering a plan to privatize the bank along with a state-owned mutual fund company called Unit Trust Co., or UTC. Mr. Lee-Chin's name likely surfaced because this month AIC bought a merchant bank in the country called Total Finance.

"There is now a plan to have 20 per cent of First Citizens Bank sold to Mr. Lee-Chin and his AIC group," Mr. Yetming told Parliament. "My information is that a certain sum of money has been paid to a minister of government. The people giving that information are speculating it's a bribe."

He suggested that the plan was hatched in Jamaica where Mr. Lee-Chin grew up and where Burlington, Ont.-based AIC owns a bank. AIC bought control of National Commercial Bank in 2002 from the Jamaican government. 

Mr. Yetming's comments sparked a political firestorm. He was shouted down in Parliament and Prime Minister Patrick Manning challenged him to "bring evidence." Last night, the country's cabinet met to discuss the issue.

The Jamaican government also condemned the comments. "In one fell swoop, Mr. Yetming impugned the reputation of a valued member of the Jamaican business community and by extension slandered the Jamaican private sector," said Lorne McDonnough, Jamaica's High Commissioner to Trinidad.

Reached at his home yesterday, Mr. Yetming said he will be making a statement today.

"I'll be making a statement in Parliament and I would prefer not to make any further comment on the matter," he said. 

Mr. Lee-Chin said he has met the chairman of FCB twice but did not discuss buying the bank. However, he acknowledged AIC is interested in FCB if it is put up for sale.

"We have a plan that whenever the government is going to be divesting itself, we want to be an untainted bidder," he said.

On Monday, Mr. Lee-Chin issued an ultimatum to Mr. Yetming to retract the comments by noon Tuesday or AIC would try to find a way around the legal privilege MPs typically enjoy when speaking in Parliament.

"I invite Mr. Yetming to be man enough to repeat his allegations outside the walls of Parliament and to do so immediately," Mr. Lee-Chin said Monday.

Yesterday, Mr. Lee-Chin said he had no choice but to sue because Mr. Yetming missed the deadline. The deadline "was noon Tuesday and he did not withdraw," he said. 

The suit has been filed in Ontario and Jamaica, but not Trinidad. Mr. Lee-Chin said that is because Canada and Jamaica do not give blanket protection to parliamentarians. He said the basis for the claim is that Mr. Yetming has caused damage to his reputation "in jurisdictions that we do business."

He added that he is still shocked by the turmoil. "I go to work every day, I live my life that is a function of certain principles. I wonder, where the hell did this come from?" 

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