There have been opposing views on whether the AG was lucky that the OPV's were resold of if it was simply his brilliance that resulted in the $1.3 billion repayment.
The first thing one has to determine is if the resale of the OPVs influenced the decision by BAE to refund Trinidad. If the boats were not resold, BAE would have spent time and money in design and manufacturing costs as well as indefinite storage, dry dock and other attendant costs. We would have to pay BAE for such costs incurred and no refund would result.
However, the boats were sold and BAE has recovered their expenses and would have a moral obligation to refund Trinidad since they would no longer be out of pocket. As the London Times noted, BAE cannot sell the same boats twice and keep the cash. Now we need to determine if the AG had any influence on having the OPVs resold.
If he did have influence then he would be credited for his brilliance in providing the circumstances which facilitated the recovery. If he did not, he would simply be considered lucky. In this case, in the absence of any additional information (for example, a link between the Brazilian OPV purchase and the Brazilian highway contract) the AG played no part in the purchase of the OPVs by Brazil.
So we conclude that the resale of the OPVs was instrumental in us securing a refund and that the AG was not instrumental in getting the OPVs resold so then the AG and T&T were lucky that the OPVs were resold.
W Henry
Tacarigua