GRACEKENNEDY chairman Douglas Orane last night denied that he owed a debt to Finsac after yesterday’s sitting of the enquiry heard that one of the debts given special treatment in the aftermath of the mid-1990s financial sector meltdown was owed by a Douglas Orane.

“There have been reports in the news media today [yesterday] that a Douglas Orane owed debts to Finsac which were not repaid and were written off. I would like to state that I have never borrowed any money which I have not repaid in full,” Orane said in a statement.

He explained that his mother and father started a business under the name Douglas C Orane Ltd, which was named after his father, Douglas Clair Orane, who is now deceased. That company, said the GraceKennedy chairman, manufactured doors, windows and parquet flooring for many years until it was sold in 1983 as a going concern.

The new owners, he said, continued to operate the company under the same name — Douglas C Orane Ltd.

“Neither my mother, my father, nor I have had control of the company since 1983 — over 26 years ago,” said Orane.

At yesterday’s sitting of the enquiry, Finsac general manager Errol Campbell, under pressure from the attorneys representing indebted entrepreneurs, reluctantly agreed to reveal the names of people who had their loans forgiven.

Of special note were three loans that showed substantial reduction on the amounts owed.

According to a list, dated December 2001 and addressed to Patrick Hylton, then Finsac managing director, a Douglas Orane received a $112-million write-off on a $116-million loan balance. Another debtor, named as Hugh Gray, had his $325-million debt dropped to $30 million.

And Jamaica Construction Company had its $326-million balance reduced to $4 million, down by a whopping $322 million.

The Finsac document also showed that Finance Minister Audley Shaw, who initiated the enquiry, had a loan of $14 million reduced to $12 million, while Transport Minister Mike Henry’s $39-million loan was dropped to $25 million.

The list of people having portions of their debts forgiven also include Pulse Investment boss Kingsley Cooper, who had $24 million of his $36-million loan forgiven.

But the revelation of the extensive write-off for some debtors left David Wong-Ken, attorney-at-law representing the Association of Finsac’d Entrepreneurs (AFE), questioning the criteria used by Finsac to determine who received a write-off and how much.

“We don’t know what the criteria is and that is an important factor,” Wong-Ken told the Observer after the sitting. He charged that the Finsac list was inaccurate and lacked clarity as some people were given write-offs as high as 90 per cent, while others were way below 50 per cent.

“I know that the list is inaccurate as my company is on it and I was never offered any forgiveness,” Wong Ken said, adding that he never owed any money.

On Tuesday, Finsac enquiry commissioners expressed consternation at the high level of forgiveness given to some debtors at the exclusion of others.

Campbell said then that debtors were offered a “window of opportunity” to settle outstanding amounts before the debts were sold to Jamaica Redevelopment Foundation (JRF).

Yesterday, pressed by attorney’s representing indebted entrepreneurs, Campbell admitted that even though some debtors challenged the loan balances, Finsac nonetheless handed over all the files to the JRF.

At Wednesday’s sitting of the enquiry it was disclosed that JRF, acting under instructions from legal representative Sandra Minott Phillips, refused to divulge information on the loan balances after they were acquired.