(Trinidad Express) Nicole Patrick resigned her post as corporate secretary of insurance giant CLICO because she was being asked to sign questionable legal documents.
Patrick made the claim in her resignation letter to CLICO’s former executive chairman Lawrence Duprey.
The resignation letter dated May 9, 2007 was also sent to CLICO’s chief marketing officer Ian Garcia, and the insurance company’s regional human resource manager Gwendoline McLaren.
Patrick’s resignation letter was yesterday tendered into evidence at the Commission of Enquiry into the collapse of CL Financial and the Hindu Credit Union (HCU).
The Sunday Express obtained a copy of the letter yesterday.
Patrick assumed the role as CLICO’s corporate secretary in 2004 after Gita Sakal stepped down from the position following a “reconfiguration” of the CLICO board.
In her resignation letter Patrick painted a picture of being asked to carry out transactions which she felt were not “right or ethical”, Senior Counsel Neal Bisnath, the attorney for CLICO said yesterday.
“Please accept notice of my intention to leave the company in one month’s time. It is with some regret that I am in this position, however, my concern for my fiduciary duty towards the company is often perceived to be an unwillingness to find solutions or ‘loopholes’ in order to progress with the business objectives of the company,” Patrick’s letter stated.
“My position of Corporate Secretary comes with a significant legal and ethical responsibility, one which I do not take lightly. As such, I have had particular concern as to some of the legal documentation that is placed before me for signature.
“This should be noted as a grave concern for some of those are provided from the parent holding company CL Financial,” the letter stated.
Patrick had become frustrated with the state of affairs at CLICO.
“This has in the past few months become extremely difficult, in particular when members of the team question my professional opinion,” the letter stated.
“This questioning is to the point of complete disrespect and absence of professional integrity or courtesy for the office I hold and in the circumstances I see no other alternative.”
In June 2007 Geoffrey Leid had been approached to become a temporary replacement for Patrick until a suitable candidate was found.
Leid remained in the position until 2009 when CLICO’s parent company CL Financial received a billion-dollar bailout from the State.
During cross-examination by Bisnath on Friday, Leid described his decision to accept the post as “probably the biggest mistake” of his life.
Sakal was named as a possible replacement but board members expressed concern about her assuming the post.
Leid, who returned to the witness stand yesterday, was allowed to read Patrick’s resignation letter before being questioned by Bisnath on its content.
Leid said he did not experience any of the concerns expressed by Patrick.
Although he knows Patrick “personally”, Leid said she did not explain the exact source of her frustration.
