Three former executives of the Gordon 'Butch' Stewart-owned Appliance Traders Group (ATL), who are accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the company, returned to court on Thursday, June 9.
The accused; Patrick Lynch, the former Director of Finance for the Sandals Group; Dr. Jeffery Pyne, the former Chairman of the ATL Group Pension Fund; and Catherine Barber, a former trustee, appeared before the Corporate Area Criminal Court with a battery of top-notch attorneys, including Queens Counsel, K.D Knight.
Mr. Lynch is being represented by Frank Phipps Q.C, and his daughter Kathryn.
Ms. Barber has retained the legal services of Patrick Atkinson Q.C, and Debra Martin.
Dr. Pyne is being represented by K.D. Knight Q.C, and John Junor.
The attorneys told the court that they are still awaiting statements from investigators.
As a result, the bail bonds of the three former executives were extended until June 23.
The three were charged in April, following a top-level investigation into an alleged multi-million dollar racket involving the ATL Group Pension Scheme.
They were placed under investigation after Gordon 'Butch' Stewart filed a complaint with the Organised Crime Investigation Division in December, last year.
The hotel mogul told the cops that the three executives conspired to steal more than $350 million from his company, Gorstew Limited, and the ATL Pension Fund.
Mr. Stewart alleged that the three caused his company, Gorstew, to pay out $351 million from the pension fund without his consent, from 1998 to 2008.
He alleged that the defendants breached the Trust Deed and rules dated October 17, 2006, which required that, he as the "founder" had to sign off or authorise the payouts.
Investigators alleged that letters were forged to cover up the illegal activity.
The cops, who seized computers and other items from the homes of the three accused as part of the probe, reported that an analysis of the computers did not unearth any evidence of value.
Mr. Lynch, a former power broker in the Sandals empire, and the other accused, have strongly denied the allegations.
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