Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
Crawford
IN A bizarre twist, Claudine Crawford, the ex-wife of former Century National Bank boss Donovan Crawford has dragged him to court, claiming half interest in all his properties, valued at millions of dollars.
Her claims come at the same time that the Government-owned Financial Institutions Services Ltd. (FIS) is seeking to collect $2 billion from Mr. Crawford. Following an eight-year legal battle, the court ruled that Mr. Crawford should pay this amount which he and his companies owed to the Century National Bank which was closed by the Minister of Finance in 1996. Mr. Crawford was the principal shareholder in the bank.
Reacting to Mrs. Crawford's claim for half of her former husband's interests, the FIS described her action as a
contrivance to prevent it from collecting the $2 billion debt owed by the former banker. Mr. Crawford had written to Minister of Finance Omar Davies on
June 26 asking him to vary the judgment because of his ex-wife's illness.
GESTURE OF COMPENSATION
He had also asked the minister to release various assets and pay him "an appropriate sum as a gesture of compensation for my efforts in building and contributing significantly to the Jamaican economy and people over the past 35 years. This could also be considered in lieu of a pension."
Mrs. Crawford's suit was filed in the Supreme Court on July 12, the day before FIS put up for auction 17 properties belonging to Crawford and his companies. Her claim is based on provisions of the Property (Rights of Spouses ) Act, 2004, which came into operation on April 1.
Without notifying FIS, Mrs. Crawford's lawyers applied to the court on July 12 to get an injunction to block FIS from proceeding with the auction until the court made orders pursuant to her application for division of the properties in which she has interests.
Ms. Justice Jennifer Straw refused to grant the injunction and directed Mrs. Crawford's lawyers to serve FIS with the summons.
The matter came back before the court on July 18 when Justice Straw, after hearing submissions from Solicitor General, Michael Hylton, Q.C., and attorneys-at-law Carlene Larmond and Kalaycia Clarke of the Attorney-General's Department, dismissed Mrs. Crawford's application for an injunction.
