(Jamaica Observer) Instead of the Christmas gift he had prematurely promised Cash Plus investors last year, liquidator Hugh Wildman will have to pay legal costs to a Dubai bank he believed was holding US$25 million, allegedly stashed there by Carlos Hill.

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Court has ruled that the bank, Julius Baer (Middle East) Ltd, does not have the Cash Plus money, and lifted a freezing and disclosure order that Wildman had obtained ex parte in September last year.

It was a crushing blow for a gritty lawyer who is unaccustomed to losing his legal battles. But moreso because Wildman was so confident he could bring a smile to the thousands of Jamaicans badly burnt when the pyramid scheme operated by Hill crashed after five years, taking billions of dollars of investment with it.

Wildman, his face a mask of pain and clearly stung by the ruling, vowed to continue his worldwide search for the funds, telling the Sunday Observer in an interview: “Notwithstanding the ruling in Dubai, we are still pursuing a course which we believe will shed light on the existence of accounts by Carlos Hill and the Hill Group abroad.”

To the over 40,000 Jamaicans who pumped an estimated J$15 billion into the scheme, Cash Plus was an irresistible dream, offering interest rates upwards of 10 per cent per month on a minimum of J$100,000.

Many people, arguing that the paltry interest rates paid by the traditional financial entities had hardly made a difference in the quality of their lives, threw caution to the wind. They reportedly sold homes and cars, took out large loans or plunged their life’s savings into the scheme, believing that Hill and his brother Bertram were financial prophets, of sorts.

The tacit support of many churches and other faith-based institutions encouraged many to dive in, some feet first. Not even a detailed exposé on Carlos Hill, who did jail time in the United States for questionable financial dealings, could dissuade the depositors. With each passing week, Cash Plus grew and people were begging Hill to take their money.

But faced with stubborn questions about the sustainability of the scheme, Hill began to invest some of the money into real estate and public relations projects, such as the funding of the island’s National Premier League football competition.

Then, in 2008, the naysayers were finally able to say ‘I told you so’. The bottom fell out of the pyramid scheme. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) issued a warning that unregistered financial organisations, including Cash Plus, were unsound. Banks, in particular the National Commercial Bank, holding Cash Plus accounts, took legal action to close them out to reduce their exposure.

Some Cash Plus depositors held on until the bitter end, accusing NCB of trying to sabotage the scheme for selfish purposes. But the message finally came home when Cash Plus stopped issuing the monthly interest cheques that had, admittedly, changed many lives forever. After futile weeks of standing in line outside the Cash Plus offices, the crowds went home, to lick their wounds.
Unleashing Wildman

The dream of becoming rich in their lifetime, for some now turned to recovering at least a portion of the money dumped into Cash Plus. One year ago this February, the Government, through the Public Service Commission, appointed Wildman, a lawyer with a record of toughness and a thick hide, to be Trustee in Bankruptcy and Liquidator of Cash Plus Limited, as well as Receiver of Cash Plus subsidiaries and affiliates.

Wildman was told to hunt down Cash Plus money anywhere it was in the world and to sell the properties held, in order to return the proceeds to investors, with priority to go to those who had not received any money at all during the time they invested with Hill and his cohorts.

Hill has maintained in court hearings that he has none of the money. But the Trustee is unimpressed.

“We believe that he has substantial sums in accounts abroad,” he countered in the Supreme Court, and repeats in the Sunday Observer interview. “We maintain that it is in Mr Hill’s interest to co-operate and bring back the funds identified so we can pay back the depositors.”

Wildman said he had successfully made several applications to the Supreme Court to get properties that Hill had registered in the name of the Hill group.