THE ATL pension fraud case was yesterday postponed in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court, Half-Way-Tree, until December 9.

The hearing was put off until then because Queen’s Counsel KD Knight, who is in the process of cross-examining prosecution witness Claudette McLeish, appears in a lawsuit filed by former Prime Minister PJ Patterson against Nationwide Radio in the Supreme Court.

That Patterson v Nationwide case is set to last the rest of the week.

The ATL matter could not be set for next week as the Cuban light bulb trial of former Junior Energy Minister Kern Spencer and co-accused Coleen Wright is scheduled to continue next Monday, December 2. Deborah Martin, one of the lawyers in the ATL case, appears for Wright.

Patrick Lynch, the former chairman of the ATL Pension Fund, allegedly master-minded a scheme involving Catherine Barber, the fund’s former general manager; and Dr Jeffrey Pyne, former managing director of Gorstew Ltd, to forge letters to deceive Gorstew that consent was given for distribution of $1.7 billion in pension fund surplus.

All three benefited from the surplus through payments to their pension accounts.

The prosecution believes the letters were created in December 2010, although they dated back to 1998.