Richard Friedman will be in Nassau

Our Lawyer Richard Friedman will be in Nassau during the week of august 23rd. We will arrange a meeting for client(s) or there representation that would like to meet Richard during his stay in Nassau.

The week plan :
Monday 23rd :
A informative meeting with Corporate Directors representing IBC's and to finalized and settle there status in joining the action.
Meeting with Private Banker and client(s)
Meeting with International lawyers to evaluate corporate procedures and solutions.
Tuesday 24th
All day at Alexious Knowles office. (Confidential)
Meeting and collaboration from Luther McDonald office personal.
Wednesday 25th
A meeting(s) with the official liquidator Antony Kikivarakis and Alfred Sears at Deloitte Touche.
Demands such as access to all corporate files. Clients access to information concerning the action, The liquidators collaboration in testifying if needed etc.
Thursday the 26th
Meeting at British Colonial Commercial Center
Meeting with legal adviser. Lawyer(s). Confidential.
Meeting with Len Davis Comity Member. Re Affidavit.
Meeting at with Private Banker at British Colonial Commercial Center. .
Friday the 27th
Meeting with International lawyers and corporate client(s).
Meeting with client(s)legal adviser and Director. Proposal,conclusion,verification and Documentation.
Alexious Knowles office. (Confidential)
Interrogation and collaboration agreement with Robert Dukley.

Saturday the 28th

Information sharing & collaboration. Robert Dunkley.

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By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

EIGHTY clients of a former Bahamian broker/dealer that collapsed after suffering a $25 million trading loss have had 90 per cent of their assets returned to them, the company's liquidator has confirmed, although more than 100 others with small accounts are still outstanding in a process that has been described as "arduous and time consuming to say the least".

A July 29, 2009, update sent to Caledonia Corporate Management clients on behalf of the liquidator, Anthony Kikivarakis, informed them that returning 90 per cent of their assets, in compliance with two Supreme Court orders, was the "number one priority" for the court-supervised liquidation.

Tiffany Russell, an agent for Deloitte & Touche (Bahamas) partner and accountant, Mr Kikivarakis, wrote that the liquidation team had spent most of its time complying with the October 21, 2008, and December 19, 2008, orders of former senior justice John Lyons to release 90 per cent of all client assets.

"This task has been arduous and time-consuming to say the least," the client update said. "Due to the challenges faced in this process, Mr Kikivarakis approached Senior Justice John Lyons and explained the situation to him.

"In response to this, Justice Lyons instructed him to continue with the release of 90 per cent of clients' assets to them, and to make this his number one priority."

Ms Russell added, though, that the return of client assets had been interrupted by Justice Lyons' retirement, as his and the Supreme Court's permission was being sought before any asset releases. Currently, the Caledonia liquidation has yet to be assigned to another judge.

"It should be noted that Mr Kikivarakis and his agents have already issued instructions to release most of the assets held on behalf of clients to them," the Caledonia client update revealed.

"Nevertheless, we are working on returning assets to over 100 clients, primarily clients with small asset balances. However, this process was interrupted with Justice Lyons' retirement as a judge in the Supreme Court of the Bahamas.

"Previously, Justice Lyons had approved the release of 90 per cent of 80 clients' assets to them. After Justice Lyons' retirement, the company's liquidation case has not been transferred to a new judge as yet, and therefore we have not been able to obtain the court's approval to release additional batches of client assets."

Caledonia Corporate Management collapsed and fell into what ultimately became a court supervised liquidation after one of its clients was allowed to operate an overdrawn margin account, which was not properly collateralised, plunging the company into a $25 million trading loss.

The man directing activity in this trading account, George Georgiou, has since been charged by the US federal authorities with running a fraudulent stock manipulation scheme, and his trial is due to take place later this year.

Caledonia's trading clients had all their assets pooled into one omnibus account by its Canadian correspondent broker, Jitney. To cover the margin loss created by the activities of Mr Georgiou and his associates, Jitney sold off securities and other assets belonging to other Caledonia clients, leaving many suffering a severe loss and hardship.

Justice Lyons has already advised "that the loss incurred in the Jitney account would be borne by the specific clients' whose securities and cash had been used to cover the shortfall in the Jitney accounts".

Mr Kikivarakis, in his client update, revealed that he had been liaising with Denys Bourbeau, a member of the Caledonia Client Monitoring Committee assisting him with the liquidation, and Richard Perdue, providing them with such assistance as the court allowed as they mulled bringing a lawsuit against Jitney and the chief Canadian custodian used by Caledonia, Penson Financial Services.

Judging by Caledonia's balance sheet as at March 7, 2008, Mr Kikivarakis as liquidator is in no position to take action against Jitney and other involved in the company's collapse, as liabilities exceed assets by $23.814 million.

The Caledonia liquidation seemingly continues to move forward, although sources have told Tribune Business that there is disquiet among some clients and attorneys over the December 19, 2008, court order that authorised Mr Kikivarakis to retain a further 8 per cent of client assets.

An initial 2 per cent of client assets were retained to cover the liquidator's costs, and placed in escrow at EFG Bank & Trust (Bahamas), but Justice Lyons authorised a further 8 per cent to be retained to cover "a shortfall of at least $500,000" in client accounts other than at Jitney.

"Thus I did not have 100 per cent of the clients' assets in my possession or under my control, and therefore I was unable to comply with" the previous court order, authorising the return of 90 per cent of client assets, Mr Kikivarakis had said in his second report to the Supreme Court.

The Securities Commission has also been criticised by some Caledonia clients, who have openly questioned to Tribune Business why the capital markets regulator has yet to undertake an in-depth investigation of the events that led up to the company's collapse.

In response, Hillary Deveaux, the Securities Commission's executive director, told Tribune Business: "We are still investigating the matter."

He added: "We are concerned as to how the public perceives the Commission to be executing its mandate. We need to fully investigate these matters before we can deal with these things. It takes a long time to investigate these situations.

"We rely, to a great extent, on the forensic determinations of the liquidator. We are well aware of the situation. The company is in the hands of the liquidator, and we don't want this to end up like other situations. People have to see justice being done.

"We are still investigating the matter, and the major part of our investigation will be the results of the findings of the liquidator."

Elsewhere, Tribune Business has learnt that the Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) has turned down an application by Robert Dunkley, the former head of trading at Caledonia, for a realtor's licence.

Sources close to BREA confirmed that, following an interview, Mr Dunkley's licence application was rejected. It is understood that this decision was partly due to concerns about the Caledonia situation, and also the fact that H. G. Christie, the company Mr Dunkley is working for, had named him in advertisements as the primary listing agent for Doctor's Hospital's $9 million Western Medical Plaza prior to him obtaining a realtor's licence.