Appeals court blocks Ennia’s attempt to get a judgment from the Supreme Court

WILLEMSTAD — The Common Court of Justice has denied Ennia’s request to have the Supreme Court  render judgment on the court’s interim ruling in the dispute between the insurance company and its majority shareholder Hushang Ansary and former managers, the Antilliaans Dagblad reports.

Ennia (or rather the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten on its behalf) wanted to go to the Supreme Court to speed up the procedures against Ansary. But the Common Court ruled that the appeal process is progressing at a proper speed and that there is no need for a procedure at the Supreme Court.

The Court has put the case on its docket for December 5. The subject of this hearing will be the appointment of an expert who will be tasked with presenting an appraisal of the value of Mullet Bay between 2009 and 2018. Those years cover a longer period than the time frame within which Ennia made excessive payments like dividends. The court wants to know the value of Ennia during these years because it also has to render judgment on excessive payments to supervisory directors.

The court has asked Ennia/CBCS and Ansary to find an agreement about the appraiser. If they cannot find common ground, the court will appoint the appraiser.

Ennia’s majority shareholder Ansary has appealed the interim ruling of September 12 where he was sentenced to pay damages to the tune of 250 million guilders ($139.6 million). The Court in First Instance sentenced Ansary earlier to pay in excess of 1 billion guilders. To assess the matter of self-enrichment, the court wants to know the true value of Mullet Bay.

Ennia disagrees with that approach, given the fact that the court already ruled that dividend payments were unlawful and a violation of Ennia’s articles of incorporation. The court should have ruled that all the payments will have to be returned to Ennia, Ennia/CBCS argue.

If Ennia/CBCS had been allowed to have the Supreme Court review the Common Court’s judgment, and if the Supreme Court would have come to a different conclusion, this would have sped up the procedure. The Common Court does not agree and it has therefore denied Ennia/CBCS’s request to take the matter to the Supreme Court.

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Ennia wants to take the Ansary-dispute to the Supreme Court