The attorney for suspended National Insurance Board (NIB) Director Algernon Cargill said he has been given strict instructions to proceed with legal action “immediately.”
Alfred Sears told the Bahama Journal on Friday that he is moving ahead with the groundwork to take Cargill’s matter to the Supreme Court.
“Without any independent and impartial investigations, unfounded allegations were made against my client,” he said.
“They were put in the public domain and he has also been suspended without any independent and impartial investigation. In my legal opinion that is illegal. They have defamed Mr. Cargill and his entitlement to due process.”
Mr. Sears said the action will begin but he could not say exactly when it would be placed on the court’s calendar for a hearing.
Cargill was suspended amidst allegations that he abused millions of dollars of public funds last Wednesday.
The Bahama Journal learnt that National Insurance Minister Shane Gibson instructed NIB Chairman Greg Moss to place Mr. Cargill on administrative leave effective immediately until the end of a forensic investigation into the allegations.
Mr. Moss gave Mr. Cargill his letter last week.
The Journal understands that the NIB director accepted the letter after much resistance.
He initially balked at the suggestion to take administrative leave.
Last Monday, he Journal broke the story that Mr. Moss had written a 22-page letter to Minister Gibson stating that he and the board wanted Mr. Cargill fired.
In the leaked letter, Mr. Moss accused Mr. Cargill of engaging in a conflict of interest.
The letter listed eight examples to support the Board’s claims.
The Board has said that it would refuse to meet as Mr. Cargill would have to attend those meetings.
“I await your response in respect of the implementation of the Board’s resolution in respect of Director Cargill, pending which I shall hold in abeyance any further meetings of the Board as I do not see how the Board can be expected to hold a meeting which, of necessity, would involve Director Cargill when the Board has resolved to terminate the services of Director Cargill,” Mr. Moss said in the letter.
The Board’s investigations revealed that Mr. Cargill rented an apartment from his brother, Godwin Cargill.
The apartment, according to Mr. Moss, was being rented for an AIS representative. AIS is the Jamaican IT company that was hired to assemble the technology for the National Prescription Drug Plan (NPDP).
The Board later found out that Mr. Cargill’s brother owned an apartment in the gated Sandyport community and another apartment was being sought for $4,500.
But, the director rented the apartment with a deposit of $18,333.40 even though the actual amount needed for the deposit was only $5,000.
The Board further claimed that Mr. Cargill “abused” his power as head of NIB when he suspended a staff member and used NIB funds to pay for his legal defence.
The worker, Sean Moss, claimed Mr. Cargill was involved in an adulterous relationship with his wife.
According to Mr. Moss, the incident started in 2007 when Sean grew concerned by the late night calls his wife started getting at home from Mr. Cargill.
Sean conceded that his wife and Mr. Cargill had known each other since 2004.
In June 2012, Sean separated from his wife for what he called “peace of mind” in relation to the matter of Mr. Cargill and other matters.
“In August 2010, Mr. Moss’ wife came to NIB main headquarters and created a scene as a result of which Director Cargill called Mr. Moss into his office, explained that his wife was making a scene and then, inexplicably, instead of asking security to escort his wife off NIB premises instead, along with Mr. Raymond Wells (deputy director/ VP of information technology ) escorted Mr. Moss and his wife to Director Cargill’s office where they were joined by Mrs. Richenda King, vice president of Human Resources, and recommended that Mr. Moss and his wife commence sessions with Dr. Timothy Barrett,” the chairman wrote in the letter.
“In December 2010, Mr. Moss filed divorce proceedings against his wife and in those proceedings mentioned his concern as to the relationship between his wife and Director Cargill. Director Cargill was not named as a party to those proceedings.”
The Board, in its letter, also accused Mr. Cargill of failing to secure a tender from a Jamaica-based company that could have potentially saved the Board $5 million.
The directors said the move further demonstrated the “mismanagement” of NIB resources