RESPECTED attorney Trevor Patterson testified yesterday in the ATL pension fraud case that accused Patrick Lynch reversed himself a day after saying there was no consent for the distribution of surplus from the fund.

Lynch, then chairman of the pension fund, on December 15, 2010 had told Patterson that the distribution of fund surplus had been made without consent and he needed his advice on how to undo it, after Gorstew Chairman Gordon ‘Butch Stewart found out.

Patterson, who was a lawyer to the ATL Pension Fund, said that Lynch had made the disclosure to him during a conference call which also included the former general manager of the fund, Catherine Barber.

The lawyer testified that Lynch explained to him that he had paid out $350 million of the employer’s surplus without the consent of holding company Gorstew Ltd, which was required under the Trust Deed governing the fund, and that Stewart was insisting that the money be repaid.

Patterson, who was led in his examination-in-chief by prosecuting attorney Garth McBean, said his reaction to himself was: “This was a major problem.”

He said he and Lynch discussed a number of options, which he advised were not practical, after which Lynch proposed the winding up of the fund. Patterson again advised that that would be a bad decision as it could destroy the company.

Patterson said Lynch then invited him to a meeting with Stewart and others at the ATL headquarters at 35 Half-Way-Tree Road in St Andrew for the following day, December 16, 2010.

Shortly before the meeting, Patterson, who is with the law firm Patterson Mair Hamilton, added that he went into Lynch’s office to co-ordinate how to present to Stewart the news that there was no viable solution of undoing the distribution. Lynch then announced to him that “we have consent”.

Asked why are we wasting time, Patterson recounted, Lynch explained that the consent letters were signed by Dr Jeffery Pyne, the former managing director of Gorstew Ltd, and that he didn’t want to aggravate Stewart by disclosing it to him because the relationship between both men had deteriorated.

Patterson said that during the meeting, attended by Stewart, David Davies, the Sandals/ATL global chief financial officer, Group General Counsel Dmitri Singh and himself, Lynch was hesitant in telling Stewart about the consent letters, despite Stewart’s expressed dissatisfaction over the matter. Patterson said he was indicating to Lynch to talk about the consent letters, but that he kept quiet.

He said Stewart sent for Barber to shed some light on the situation, and after she came she told Stewart that there was written consent, which were on a file. Patterson said Stewart asked her to go for the file, which she did, and presented four letters with varying dates.

Patterson said the first thing that struck him was that the letters, which were all signed by Pyne, appeared new despite the dates. The letters were dated 1998, 2002, 2005, and 2008. The meeting was adjourned shortly after the file was turned over to Singh.

Patterson was cross-examined by Queen’s Counsel Frank Phipps, making way for KD Knight, QC, who is expected to complete his examination of him when the matter continues in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

The prosecution believes that Pyne, Lynch and Barber conspired in the forging of the letters to deceive Gorstew that consent was given for the distribution of $1.7 billion in pension surplus. The prosecution is further contending that the letters were created on December 15, 2010, the day Gorstew Chairman Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart confronted Lynch about the distribution.