PLANTATION CLUB HOTEL

CHANG-LENG LINKED TO SALE OF HOTEL

Bernard Georges, lawyer for the Plantation Club ResortThe saga of the Plantation Club Hotel continued last week without any sign of abating any time soon. Lawyer for Ailee Company, the company which owns the Plantation Club Hotel, filed a motion and petition contesting the appointment of Ernst and Young, a Mauritian accountancy firm, as provisional liquidator to dissolve the company. The order for the appointment which was made Ex-Parte by Judge Perera, at the behest of the Government of Seychelles, is “contrary to law,” argued Mr. Bernard Georges. Mr. Georges submitted that according to “Section 293 of the Companies Act 1972, a body corporate cannot be appointed as provisional liquidator and any such appointment is null and void.”

Several banks also filed motions to be heard as creditors, amongst which the Bank of Baroda and the Bank of India, are the biggest creditors. The total loans due from the company are well over USD 100,000,000. Mr. Ronny Govinden, who represented the government, argued that the government had to act swiftly to “protect its investment” as the company is insolvent and had been insolvent since 2004. However, Mr. Georges countered this argument by stating that the government has not invested one single cent in the company. He said that the government was given 8 shares because it gave a tax break to the company as an incentive to induce them to build the hotel here; at a time when the “tourism industry was in the doldrums.” He said that the major creditors have not sought liquidation and had continued to support the hotel by pouring more money into it as and when that became necessary. He said it was, therefore, morally wrong for the government, which has not invested anything in the hotel, to seek liquidation, thus putting the investment of the creditors at grave risk.

In another twist to the saga, Mr. Nicole Thelermont also filed a motion for special leave to be heard as well on the basis that he is also a creditor. Mr. Thelermont was the Manager of Human Resources at the hotel and his employment had been terminated. He filed a case against the hotel at the Ministry of Employment and was awarded R.76,000 compensation. He said that to date he has not been paid and if there was going to be a winding up of the company which owns the hotel, he wants his interest to be protected. Judge Perera promptly granted his application. Mr. Thelermont is represented by lawyer, Mr. Frank Elizabeth, who said that the amount of his client’s claim although relatively low compared to the other creditors needs to be safe guarded.

Mr. Georges also suggested that there may have been some ulterior motive in the appointment of Ernst and Young as the provisional liquidator although he did not elaborate. He said that there are plenty of local accountancy firms with competence, professionalism and integrity which could have done the job here. He cited AJ Shah and BDO Pool and Patel as reputable accountancy firms which audit the account of Air Seychelles, Hunt Deltel and Seybrew amongst others. He said that there had been no complaints so far about the quality of their services. Mr. Georges concluded by saying that Mr. Gustave Dodin, Ombudsman, also acted as provisional liquidator in the ULC liquidation and did a fine job without complaints. Why is it then, he said, that the government has felt it necessary to go overseas for the job at hand.

 According to information received by Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly, Cheng-Leng, the Governor of the Central Bank and President Michel’s chief advisor on financial affairs, may be indirectly involved with Ernst and Young. His wife and brother in law, who are both of Mauritian origin, are the representatives of Ernst and Young in Seychelles. Thus, the link of Cheng-Leng to the accountancy firm. If this information is true, then Mr. Georges was correct to challenge the appointment of Ernst and Young as provisional liquidator to wind up the affairs of the company. It was also proper for Mr. Georges to raise questions about the propriety of the appointment. Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly published an article recently showing that Cheng-Leng had in fact gone to India to discuss this matter with the Bank of Baroda. However, it is not clear in what capacity Cheng-Leng discussed the matter with the bank and whether President Michel authorised Cheng-Leng to enter into negotiation with the bank on behalf of the government. If Cheng-Leng went to India in his official capacity without the authorisation of President Michel,then his action is unethical and President Michel should asked him to step down. The actions of Cheng-Leng clearly show that there was something sinister going on and that the government may have used Cheng-Leng to manoeuvre behind the scene to bring about a result in their favour. 

February 29, 2008
Copyright 2007: Seychelles Weekly, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles