Duprey, Monteil refuse to testify as Clico Commission of Enquiry begins tomorrow

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - When the Eleventh Evidence Hearing of the Commission of Enquiry into the collapse of CL Financial and the Hindu Credit Union (HCU) begins tomorrow morning at the Winsure Building, Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain, two major players in Clico and the State’s 2009 $20 billion bailout will not be among the witnesses. Hearings are scheduled to continue until to March 8 but there is not likely to be testimony from former Clico business magnate Lawrence Duprey or Andre Monteil, former group financial director of CL Financial, as both have used Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard’s revelation of a police probe into the collapse of the conglomerate as the reason why they cannot answer any questions. This development comes more than a year and a half into the enquiry which has already cost the state an estimated $50 million. Last month, Duprey wrote to the commission of enquiry to say he is unwilling to appear before it to give evidence because his legal team had advised him not to take part since the police had begun an official probe into the collapse of Clico. He also said he was withdrawing his legal team from the proceedings.