An Attorney with Almost 10 Years Experience has Erred?
PRESS STATEMENT
I was retained by the Honourable Prime Minister to assist him in the purchase of a parcel of land namely 2.989 acres of land at Wall House Estate and the registration of 2.06 acres of land in Trafalgar and to apply for Certificates of Title to both properties.
There is a signed agreement of sale executed between Mr. Leopold Emmanuel and Mr. Roosevelt Skerrit for the sale of 2.989 acres at Wall House Estate for the sum of $140, 283.00. Based on my own personal involvement and knowledge, the 2.06 acres of land in Trafalgar was given to the Honourable Prime Minister as a gift by Miss Marina Shillingford.
On each occasion the Prime Minister gave me copies of the plans for both parcels of land. I subsequently calculated the transfer fees, which were to be paid by him in respect of each transaction and informed him of the amount. The Prime Minister then sent me the fees for the 2.06 acres of land and the fees for the 2.989 acres were sent to me by the Royal Bank of Canada.
I prepared the two (2) applications for the Certificates of Title for Mr. Roosevelt Skerrit. I submitted the documents to the Registry and subsequently obtained the Certificates of Title for the two (2) parcels of land. Based on discussions I have had with my more experienced colleagues, I believe that I have made a mistake in the calculation of the fees in respect of the Leopold Emmanuel transfer and consequently I will take steps to rectify it and ensure that the correct transfer fees are paid.
Given the intense public discussion that this unfortunate matter has generated I wish to state clearly and emphatically that the Prime Minister and I had no discussions whatsoever concerning the calculation of the fees payable in respect of each transaction. I was the one who prepared the documents, calculated the fees and informed him of the amounts to be paid by him.
Questions have also been raised in relation to the 2.06 acres of land in Trafalgar. From my involvement and knowledge, I know that Miss Marina Shillingford gave the land to Mr. Skerrit as a gift. I prepared the Memorandum of Transfer as part of the application for the Certificate of Title.
In preparing the Memorandum of Transfer I inserted the sum of $90,000.00 as the consideration for the land. I did so because it was my understanding of the law and practice that I had to use the form contained in the Schedule of the Title by Registration Act and that I also had to state a figure or value on the Memorandum of Transfer for the purpose of transfer fees.
From my discussions with my colleagues, I now accept that I should not have included the figure of $90.000.00 on the Memorandum of Transfer at all. Instead I should have stated the consideration as “ love and affection and $1.00 ECD” and submit the valuation to show the value for the calculation of transfer fees.
I did not insert the sum of $90,000.00 on the Memorandum of Transfer to show or indicate that Mr. Roosevelt Skerrit paid $90,000.00 to Miss Shillingford. That is simply not true. Mr. Skerrit did not pay for the land. As there was no purchase price on which the fees could be calculated. I included the value of the land on the Memorandum of Transfer. The figure of $90,000.00 came from a valuation prepared by Mr. Balthazar Watt, a licensed surveyor and valuer, and I included it on the Memorandum solely in order to show a value for transfer fees purposes and for no other reason.
Dated the 4th September 2007
Stephen Isidore
Attorney at Law