(Jamaica Gleaner) The police have for the past two years failed to execute a warrant of committal on Jamaican cricketer-turned-politician Daren Powell, who has been held in contempt because of his failure to comply with a 2016 court order.
The warrant of committal, which is used to enforce a court order on a person or company that has not complied, was issued by the Supreme Court in July 2017, arising from Powell’s 2012 purchase of a supermarket in St Elizabeth from operator Quintex Limited.
It is understood that Powell purchased the business in 2012 for about $38 million but has paid over just under $17 million thus far.
Speaking to The Gleaner yesterday, Kurt Chin, managing director of Quintex Limited, said that Powell’s failure to make payments forced him to take the issue to court.
COURT RULING
In a ruling handed down in April 2016, the Supreme Court ordered Powell to pay $20 million, inclusive of cost and interest, in five instalments beginning that month.
“He made one payment, one single payment, and I can’t get in touch with him. His lawyer can’t get in touch with him, the bailiff can’t get in touch with him. I really don’t know to describe it. He can be found, but we getting the runaround that they can’t locate him,” Chin said.
“He’s in St Elizabeth. I honestly think he’s protected down there.”
The retired cricketer was photographed attending the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) annual conference at the National Arena in Kingston on November 24 this year, apparently switching political allegiance.
A former People’s National Party councillor for the Malvern division, Powell was clean-bowled when he rose to challenge the JLP’s long-standing North West St Elizabeth Member of Parliament J.C. Hutchinson in 2016, losing by 914 votes.
Powell’s failure to comply with the court order forced Chin to go back to court again, where he made an application for committal, which was granted and the warrant issued.
Chin said that the company decided to sell the supermarket when his father fell ill.
It was at this point that he entered into a sale agreement with Powell.
Several calls to Stacey Knight, the attorney who represented Powell at the time, went unanswered yesterday.
