The Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) has been held liable for over US$4 million in loans it secured for its bid to acquire Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre refinery after it was closed, and the overall company restructured in late 2018.
On Monday, High Court Judge Carol Gobin upheld KCL Capital Market Brokers Limited’s case against the OWTU and its associated company Patriotic Energies and Technologies Limited, which was established to aid in its bid for the refinery.
The loan centred around two agreements entered into between KCL Capital and the OTWU, through its then-trustees Ozzi Warwick, Raymond Huggins, and Ernesto Kesar, between November 2019 and May 2020.
Kesar, the union’s former vice president, won the Point Fortin constituency in the recently concluded General Election and has been appointed Minister in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs. Warwick is the union’s chief education and research officer.
KCL Capital filed the lawsuit after the principal and accrued interest under both loans were not paid.
In defence against the lawsuit, the OWTU claimed that KCL Capital could not seek to enforce the agreements as, under its rules, it (the OWTU) was not permitted to use the proceeds of loans to settle the fees of legal, technical and financial consultants utilised for the acquisition bid.
Justice Gobin rejected the position.
“The argument that the rules do not allow the transactions relies on an expectation that every possible course of action which could protect and promote the interest of members would be spelt out and expressly provided for. This to my mind borders on the absurd,” she said.
She also rejected claims that the agreements breached Section 17 of the Trade Unions Act.
The legislation makes it an offence for union executive members to fraudulently utilise a trade union’s finances for purposes outside of its rules.
“In the absence of fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct, the transactions entered into by the OWTU were not caught by section 17,” she said.
Justice Gobin also rejected the union’s claim that it could not be held liable as it was not unjustly enriched by the loans.
She noted that KCL Capital claimed that some of the money was paid to the union and the remainder to service providers it identified, and Warwick, who was the union’s main witness, did not categorically deny that the union received part of the proceeds.
Stating that the OWTU and Patriotic shared a close relationship, Justice Gobin pointed out that it (Patriotic) was incorporated by Warwick, who served as its deputy chairman.
“Even if I were to accept that the OWTU did not receive any money from KCL, the evidence established the relationship between the Defendants with overlapping directors and officials and their common intention to acquire and operate the refinery through Patriotic, which was incorporated for that purpose,” she said.
“It does not lie in the mouth of the union to say it did not receive the funds,” she added.
Guardian Media attempted to contact Warwick and OWTU President General Ancel Roget for a response, but calls to their cell phones went straight to voicemail. Kesar, when contacted, said “unfortunately, I have not seen the judgment you are referring to. However, you can always check me back later for feedback.”
The OWTU’s bid for the refinery was rejected by the evaluation committee established under the tenure of the former People’s National Movement (PNM) government.
Late last year, former energy minister Stuart Young had claimed that Patriotic did not progress to the next round of the bidding process due to a purportedly fraudulent US$1.5 billion wire transfer to its accounts.
In February, Young announced that Nigerian company Oando Trading DMCC had been selected to lease the refinery.
However, with the current United National Congress (UNC)-led coalition Government led by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar taking office, there is doubt over the previous arrangement.
The current administration has repeatedly stated that it would work with the OWTU to attempt to restart the refinery’s operations.
KCL Capital was represented by Dave Williams and Stacy-Ann Ramkhelewan. The OWTU was represented by Douglas Mendes, SC, Anthony Bullock, and Alatashe Girvan.