Wildman

Hugh Wildman, a former deputy director of public prosecutions, who was last week appointed trustee in bankruptcy, says his new job is challenging and there are lots of things to catch up on.

Among those issues are particularly matters relating to Cash Plus Ltd, the alternative-investment scheme which crashed in March 2008, leaving its members anxious about multimillion-dollar deposits.

"There are lots of things there to do with Cash Plus and I am getting a feel of it," says Wildman, who took charge in the new position on February 11. His post makes him the de facto provisional liquidator of Cash Plus and its affiliates, which are in receivership.

He is reviewing numerous Cash Plus files, he said, and has been getting solid support from staff, as well as from Andrew Gyles, deputy administrator general, who had been acting as trustee in bankruptcy since L. Monty Kandekore, the head of the department, resigned last year.

Gained experience

Wildman is optimistic that he can handle his new job because he gained significant experience in bankruptcy law while he was working in Grenada.

Of Cash Plus, he said he was aware that hundreds of investors were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the court's decision as to whether they would recover investments.

"If there is any scope for investors to get back anything, then we will do our best for them to get back something," he told The Gleaner.

Wildman, who is described by his colleagues as a hard-working and fearless prosecutor, was legal adviser to the government of Grenada and the Ministry of Legal Affairs there. He returned to Jamaica in September last year after spending 10 years in the Spice Isle.

Educating the police

Wildman, who has 21 years at the Bar, first worked in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions here, where he spent 10 years before going to work with the Grenadian government.

"I did a lot of civil and criminal work while I was in Grenada," he said. He was also in charge of all litigation in respect of a commercial bank there, which was placed in receivership by the court. He said he was "very successful" in dealing with that issue.

"I had to do a lot of business law, which covered contract law while I was in Grenada," he said, adding that he also did a lot of public, administrative and constitu-tional law in Grenada.

He said he was instrumental in educating the police about the observance of people's rights and he instituted a system whereby police who acted outside the scope of their duty had to pay damages from their salaries, if they were found liable by the court.

The 47-year-old legal luminary told The Gleaner that a campaign against police abuse in Grenada had led to a decline in complaints. In cases where the police acted within the scope of their duties, they were vigorously defended, he said.

Wildman's skill in handling tough cases was honed while in Jamaica. These included the first contract-killing trial, which involved three men who were charged with the murder of cable operator David Darby, who was shot dead in February 1996.

Wildman also lectures in contract and criminal law at the University of Technology in Papine, St Andrew.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com