Carey fires back - Finsac chairman says there was no loan

Chairman of the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) commission of enquiry, Justice Boyd Carey, who has come under fire in recent days, yesterday morning hit out at The Gleaner for an editorial which called for the abandonment of the commission of enquiry.

"The Gleaner has set up itself as a court and declared that this commission is flawed. It is flawed because the chairman, myself, have a family debt, which is unresolved. I wish to state categorically that there is no unresolved family debt; there never was a loan to create a debt," he said.

Carey was responding to an editorial in The Gleaner which described the commission as badly compromised. The editorial further said that claims over a potential conflict of interest involving Carey and Finsac remained unresolved.

No threats

"There was no debt so there was no loan. I have made it clear there was no debt made to either my wife or myself. I am sitting on a commission. I don't utter any threats or say nothing," Carey said.

Carey has been under pressure in recent days after it was revealed that the FINSAC enquiry could cost approximately $80 million. Carey is to be paid $15.12 million for 70 "man days".

In addition to the public outcry over the cost of the enquiry, claims have arisen over the eligibility of Carey to serve as chairman.

The Association of Finsac'd Entrepreneurs has also weighed in on the issues by asking for documentation to prove the allegations brought against Carey.

Dr Marshall Hall, former chairman of the Mutual Life board, and Oliver Jones, former president of Island Life and Island Victoria Bank, were the witnesses who testified yesterday.

Both singled out high interest rates and inflation, which they said led to an unstable environment in the mid-1990s, as having had a devastating impact on the insurance industry.