Man compensated after Debt Collection Agency 'dropped the ball'

FRIDAY, JULY 22: A Government Ministry has forked out $5,000 to a businessman and apologized after failing to update records of a debt that was paid more than a decade ago.

The businessman complained to Ombudsman Arlene Brock after he found out that the debt — which dated back to the late 1990s — was still listed in Supreme Court records as outstanding in 2009.

Ms Brock said: “The responsibility to correct the records of the Supreme Court was the Ministry’s. The failure to do so, plus the attempt in 2009 to shift the burden of proof and action to the businessman, amounted to maladministration.”

The man — identified as Businessman F in a report by Ms Brock — had been the majority shareholder of a small company that owed payroll and other taxes in the late 1990s.

A court judgement allowed the debt to be settled by the minority shareholder in the course of the liquidation of the company.

Ms Brock said: “The Ministry should have informed the Attorney General’s Chambers, which would have closed the court proceedings in the records of the Supreme Court.”

But she added: “A few years later, in 2001, Businessman F learned, in distressing circumstances, that the records of the Supreme Court still showed the debt as outstanding.

“The lawyer for the minority shareholder sent all necessary proof of settlement for the debt judgement to the Ministry’s Debt Collection Office with the request that the court records be corrected. This was never done.

“Early in 2009, Businessman F had difficulties with a business opportunity when it was again discovered that the Supreme Court records still had not been properly marked.

“The Ministry put the burden on him to prove that the payment was made a decade earlier. Further, the Ministry informed him that it was his responsibility to ensure that the Supreme Court records were corrected.

“After six frustrating months, the Ministry finally gave instructions to the Attorney General’s Chambers to do so.”

Ms Brock said her team examined archives from Magistrates’ Court, Supreme Court, the Tax Commissioner, Official Liquidator, the Debt Collection Office, the Accountant General and records of the law firm that represented the minority owner.

The probe eventually turned up a copy of the cheque used to pay the debt and a receipt from the Accountant General, as well as a bank deposit form from the Debt Collection Office for the money.

Ms Brock said: “We could not locate any internal control documents to show to which account the payment was allocated.

“Nor was there any evidence of instructions from the Ministry to the Attorney General’s Chambers to correct the records of the Supreme Court. It appears that the Debt Collection Office dropped the ball, both when the payment was made and again in 2001.”

She added: “We recommended that the Ministry make a ‘without prejudice’ apology to Businessman F.

“In addition, as an apology was not an adequate recognition of the frustration and uncertainty that Businessman F had experienced, we recommended a consolatory payment in the amount of $5000.”

She added: “Consolatory payments are extremely rare, but recommended by the Ombudsman for those instances where, in all good conscience, an apology is just not sufficient.”