Cayman’s Chamber gets new president

Johann Moxam was confirmed as the new president of Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce last Tuesday (17) at the Chamber’s Annual General Meeting.

In accepting the post Moxam announced the signing of an MOU with government and the chamber to work together on the many issues impacting the business community.

The new council for 2014 was also confirmed:

President-Elect: Barry Bodden

Vice President: Colin Reid

Secretary: Natalie Urquhart

Treasurer: Wayne Cowan

Immediate Past President: Chris Duggan

Councillors: Lucy Tibbetts, Paul Byles, Steve McIntosh, Roger Ponce, Katie O’Neill and Paul Pearson

Retirement home gets stolen cash back

The Pines Retirement Home has received a full reimbursement of the sum that went missing during Sue Nicholson’s tenure as manager before she was sacked.

The husband of the former manager, John Nicholson, handed over the money without any admission of wrongdoing and without any assistance from his wife.

In a statement released to the press on Friday (19) Julian Reddyhough, the chairman of the home’s board, said that interest had also been paid on the funds

“As we do not wish to prejudice this ongoing investigation or any subsequent criminal trial we have not at this stage released details of what has occurred or of the total involved, save to say that the total sum is a material figure,” the release said. “The Pines is co-operating fully with the RCIPS Financial Crimes Unit.

“As part of this forensic exercise the books and records of The Pines have been painstakingly reviewed going back over the last eight years.  This task has been made more difficult and time consuming than need have been the case as no information or assistance has been volunteered by Mrs Nicholson.

“We are very fortunate that our professional assistance from KMPG and from Maples and Calder has been donated free of charge. This means that The Pines has been made whole without incurring any expenditure.”

“We have instituted anti-fraud training for our administrative staff and KPMG has undertaken to offer periodic spot audits We have also updated our operational procedures in line with recommendations received from KPMG. We believe that these steps will minimize as far as practicable the chances of this type of event recurring. It is regrettable that a charity is forced to take these steps and, of course, no steps can provide 100% security against a person who is sufficiently motivated or cunning,” he added, giving the only hint of the alleged crime.

“Finally, we have been heartened by the continued support for The Pines demonstrated by the local community and by our benefactors.”

Missing wanted man telephones police officer

Anthony Smith, who was last seen diving into the sea near West Bay public beach on 1^st October, telephoned a police officer in Grand Cayman and advised the officer that he was fine, but out of Cayman’s jurisdiction.

A Police spokesperson said both the officer and Mr. Smith knew each other.

Smith is the subject of a fail to appear warrant in relation to multiple offences before the court, as well as police drug related matters.

Underfunded legislator’s pensions revealed

According to a valuation of the Parliamentary Pension Plan completed on Jan. 1^st 2011, made public in the Legislative Assembly (LA) only last week, retirement benefits made to former members of the LA would have covered those payments only through next month unless the government hadn’t contributed to it.

Both the previous and current governments have made additional contributions to the various public sector retirement funds, including plans for the judiciary, lawmakers and civil servants.

Annual contributions from government have totaled over $10M per year.

The Parliamentary Pension Plan’s actuary Subramanian “Mani” Sundaresan wrote in the 2011 evaluation that, “The fund continues to be severely underfunded. Assets allocated to the plan cover only 22 percent of the past service obligations.

“The plan’s assets are also insufficient to cover the benefits currently in payment. Without any future contributions, the assets are sufficient to cover only three years of benefit payments.”

Finance Minister Marco Archer says the government will have to increase payments into the retirement system in order to keep it solvent. The increased payments will come from government coffers and not from additional salary contributions by government workers.