The old Dyoll Group building in New Kingston.

Kenneth Tomlinson, the liquidator for Dyoll Group Limited (DGL) has set a deadline of July 31 for creditors to come forward with their claims, even as he huddles with legal advisors on how to handle at least four lawsuits against the failed company.

Dyoll Group is still trying to defeat its subsidiary, Dyoll Insurance Limited - that was wrenched from the group by regulator Financial Services Commission five years ago for the protection of policyholders - in a legal match up over overcharged fees.

The Supreme Court handed victory to Dyoll Insurance in February 13, awarding the company damages of $119.4 million, but well-placed sources said Thursday that DGL has resisted paying over the funds, and would be appealing the judgment in a case to be handled by the law firm Hart Muirhead and Fatta (HFM).

The Financial Gleaner last night obtained an application filed in the Supreme Court on June 30 by Dyoll Group in liquidation requesting a stay of execution of the judgment, which if it succeeds, would bar Dyoll Insurance from collecting on the debt.

The February 13 decision was a "summary judgment" by the court, arguing that technically, Dyoll Group was unrepresented at the hearing though an attorney for the parent company was present, because "no submissions were made on its behalf," said the claim filed by HFM.

"The order therefore amounts to a judgment in default of appearance and may be set aside on this basis."

Interest continues to accrue daily on the debt, which began at $56.7 million.

Dyoll Insurance, whose liabilities were assessed at about $2.8 billion, is itself being wound up by John Lee of PricewaterhouseCoopers Jamaica, and Kenneth Krys of the Cayman Islands.

The liquidators, who have paying down the debt in tranches, said Thursday that another 13 per cent of claims would be made in August, bringing total payouts to about 70 per cent.

In a self-praising press release issued to the Financial Gleaner by Ivally McDonald of the law firm Debbie-Ann Gordon & Associates, the Dyoll Insurance liquidator, said the payout was "extraordinary, as creditors were promised a mere 30 per cent payout at the first meeting of creditors."

"However, the liquidators continue to assiduously gather assets and pursue court proceedings (where necessary) in an effort to maximise returns to creditors of Dyoll," the statement read.

Dyoll Group, whose business was grounded in 2004 by claims on Dyoll Insurance it could not afford to pay, opted for voluntary liquidation a year ago, and was given the go-ahead by shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting in May 2008.

Lee confirmed that Dyoll Insurance, which has been paying out to its creditors since 2007, was yet to collect on the Supreme Court judgment on the fees and is taking legal steps to secure a hold over Dyoll Group's liquid assets.

If the case goes against DGL, the debt would add a new layer to liabilities that its last published accounts had put at an accumulated $65.6 million.

Informed sources say, however, that Tomlinson who was appointed liquidator on May 19 is still poring over Dyoll Group's books and will not have an accurate reading of its full indebtedness until the claims start to pour in, with at least two already said to be on the asset recovery specialist's desk.

Tomlinson who has made it an art of evading the press, referred requests for comment from the Financial Gleaner to HFM attorney Conrad George, who is advising the liquidator on how to handle the coming court confrontations. George up to press time had not returned calls.

Still sources said Tomlinson will be moving with plans to liquidate the parent holdings, notwithstanding the legal battles ahead, and then deal with the judgments as they are handed down by the courts.

What he is doing now is "to find and secure all assets of Dyoll Group Limited," said the insider who spoke with the Financial Gleaner only on condition of anonymity. Still there is the potential of further overlap in the liquidation exercise of the parent and the subsidiary, were there to be creditors in common.

In the case of the software claim, for example, the same source said that while the job was contracted by Dyoll Group, usage of the software was shared by Dyoll Insurance, whose activities were said to represent about 95 per cent of group business before Hurricane Ivan toppled it.

Tomlinson who runs a company called Business Recovery Services Limited, is no stranger to Dyoll and its inner workings.

His association goes back to 2005 as the man that then regulator Bryan Wynter turned as temporary manager of Dyoll Insurance Limited under the rescue mounted by FSC when it became clear that four months after the devastation of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, Dyoll was floundering and unable to pay out claims in Jamaica and Cayman Islands.

Tomlinson helped cut a deal with Jamaica International Insurance Company - a GraceKennedy subsidiary - to for the stronger entity to acquire Dyoll's Jamaican insurance portfolio before the company was placed in the hands of its current liquidators.

The most current balance sheet valuation of DGL's assets was up to December 2007 when the company reported net current assets of $60.9 million, loan receivable of $70.6 million, investment property valued at $8.7 million, and investment in associate, $303,661 - bringing total assets to just over $140 million.

Last year, chairman Damien King also said that Dyoll Group had call on a US$3 million judgment from a court case decided in favour of the company.

The company's holdings also include miscellaneous investments, and real estate such as the Drax Hall property in Ocho Rios, St Ann.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com