The Office of the Government Trustee (OGT), the State-appointed liquidator of bankrupt estates in Jamaica, has listed five parcels of land in Mar Bella Estate, St Thomas, for sale. The properties, ranging in price from $8.1 million to $11 million, are among the many assets that periodically enter the market under the agency’s control.

While the OGT has not disclosed the origins of these specific properties, its mandate includes managing and liquidating assets tied to failed investment schemes, bankrupt companies, and other insolvency cases.

Sources close to the matter told the Jamaica Observer that the OGT does not sell assets immediately upon repossession but rather waits for optimal market conditions to maximise returns. With St Thomas emerging as one of Jamaica’s fastest-growing real estate markets, fuelled by the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP), the timing of this sale suggests that the agency is capitalising on the surge in property values.

Real estate prices in St Thomas have skyrocketed, attracting major developments like the Sun Coast Beach Club, a 90-acre beachfront luxury housing project in Bull Bay. With the highway enhancing connectivity between Kingston and the eastern parish, investor interest has never been stronger.

The OGT is no stranger to handling the remnants of financial disasters. One of its most well-documented cases was the liquidation of Cash Plus, which, at its peak, controlled 46 per cent of Jamaica’s unregulated investment scheme market, according to a 2008 Caribbean Policy Research Institute study. The scheme collapsed when regulators and banks tightened restrictions.

Up to a year ago, the OGT has recovered $827.5 million and US$1.16 million from Cash Plus, but these funds were insufficient to meet all creditor claims. Thousands of depositors are still waiting to recover their money.

Then there was OLINT, which left investors more than US$220 million in losses, and World Wise, which collapsed with an estimated $200 million owed to investors.

Now, history seems to be repeating itself. The $4.7-billion fraud at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) has renewed fears that investors — including Usain Bolt and 200 other clients — could face years of uncertainty, much like Cash Plus and OLINT victims before them. The SSL scandal has further exposed gaps in Jamaica’s financial oversight, underscoring how long it takes for investors to recover their money when financial institutions collapse.

The OGT has remained tight-lipped on whether the Mar Bella Estate lots are tied to investment fraud recoveries or general insolvency cases, but the larger issue remains — who will benefit from these sales?

The agency confirmed in 2017 that depositors are only one class of creditors, meaning that even if these property sales generate substantial returns, those who lost money in past financial collapses may still be at the back of the line.

Legal and financial experts argue that the liquidation process in Jamaica is often slow, complex, and resource-intensive, particularly when dealing with multi-jurisdictional claims. While the OGT has a fiduciary duty to maximise recoveries, there is little transparency around the timeline for disbursements and the prioritisation of creditor classes.

For prospective buyers, the listing represents a chance to acquire land in a rapidly appreciating real estate market. Interested parties have up to March 24 to bid on the properties.

— Karena Bennett