PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Massy Holdings, the Trinidad-based conglomerate, has denied what it calls “scandalous” claims made by shareholder and general counsel Angélique Parisot-Potter. She alleged that employees were being trained to communicate with the dead and self-heal using “white light energy.”

In a press release on Tuesday, Massy Holdings stated, “The company categorically denies using the program to train people to communicate with the dead or heal with ‘white light,’ as alleged by Ms Parisot-Potter. The statements are patently untrue and scandalous.”

Parisot-Potter, also Massy’s executive vice president of Business Integrity, reportedly shared her concerns at the group’s annual general meeting on Monday.

“I am obliged to speak up about significant governance and fiduciary concerns, as detailed in my 13-page document, including audio evidence, previously shared with our CEO, Gervase Warner…Among other matters, one alarming issue is the so-called executive leadership programme which has been present in our organisation for over a decade,” she said, noting that the programme reportedly involves frequent travel to Fort Myers, Florida and weekly commitments for over a year at a cost per participant of tens of thousands of US dollars.

She said there were over 11 participants last year alone for the leadership programme.

“Their bizarre rituals include that they can train Massy employees to communicate with the dead and that attendees can self-heal with ‘white light energy’,” she reportedly stated.

Parisot-Potter, who has been a part of the Massy executive teams for more than seven years, told the meeting that “this is a matter of grave concern to shareholders because the couple leading the programme appear to exert disproportionate influence over our executive team.

“In the midst of a foreign exchange crisis, Massy cannot be spending scarce resources on highly dubious activities, and contracts awarded cannot be pushed through without prudent due process. This is not just a governance issue; it’s a blatant disregard for shareholder interests,” she reportedly said, urging the board of directors of the conglomerate that operates in several Caribbean countries, to take the matter seriously.”

But in its statement, Massy Holdings said Parisot-Potter submitted a 13-page document on November 26 to the group’s chief executive officer and that “the board takes all allegations very seriously and has initiated an independent process to examine all Parisot-Potter’s claims.”

It said that it was concerned that Parisot-Potter used the occasion of the company’s 100th annual meeting to follow up on her submission with public disclosure of a matter confidential to the company.

“The board has initiated a disciplinary process to review Ms Parisot-Potter’s conduct at the annual meeting against her duties as the general counsel to the company and will follow due process to determine how this should be handled responsibly yet decisively,” the statement said.

The Massy board said the disciplinary process would weigh Parisot-Potter’s conduct at the meeting “against her duties as the General Counsel to the Company and will follow due process to determine how this should be handled responsibly yet decisively.”