A decades-long high-profile fraud case involving a former top Caribbean insurance executive took a dramatic new turn this week, when a High Court judge struck down a lower court’s ruling that would have sent Leroy Parris, ex-chairman of defunct CLICO Life Insurance Company, to trial on multi-million-dollar theft and conspiracy charges.
The legal battle stretches back to 2012, when state prosecutors first laid four separate charges against Parris. Prosecutors allege that between late 2008 and mid-2009, Parris stole $3.33 million from CLICO International Life Insurance Limited, conspired with others to defraud the company by inducing it to transfer the funds to law firm Thompson and Associates, laundered the stolen sum, and later conspired to evade tax authorities by failing to file 2009 income tax returns. The case moved slowly through the courts for more than a decade, until 2023, when Magistrate Manila Renee ruled there was enough evidence to warrant a High Court trial and committed Parris for judgment.
Rather than proceeding to trial, Parris’s legal team, led by prominent King’s Counsel Hal Gollop and attorney Neil Marshall, challenged the committal via judicial review. They named Magistrate Renee, the Attorney General, and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as respondents in the challenge, and successfully secured an interim injunction to halt the indictment. On Wednesday, Justice Michelle Weekes delivered her final ruling on the challenge from the No. 8 Supreme Court, siding entirely with Parris and issuing a writ of certiorari — a legal order that allows a higher court to invalidate a lower court’s ruling — to quash Renee’s committal decision.
In her ruling, Justice Weekes went further, barring the magistrate from sharing case documents with the DPP and the Supreme Court Registrar, and issued a permanent injunction blocking the DPP from moving forward with the indictment against Parris. She explicitly ruled that Magistrate Renee’s finding of sufficient evidence to try Parris was invalid, on the grounds that the lower court’s actions violated both the constitution and core principles of natural justice. The judge has stated that full written reasoning for the decision will be released at a later date. The case has been adjourned until February 23, 2027, to allow for legal submissions on claims for damages and court costs.
Speaking to reporters immediately after the ruling was handed down, Gollop described the years-long legal fight as grueling, saying his team felt validated by the High Court’s decision. “It has been a long and arduous task and we feel vindicated by the decision and look forward to the further progress of the matter so that we may bring it to a final conclusion,” Gollop said. “My client is very happy that this act of injustice has been given the stamp of disapproval by the court and we are happy with the outcome.”
State legal representatives, however, have made clear that the case is far from over. King’s Counsel Roger Forde, who led the government’s legal team alongside attorneys Justin Nurse and Rene Forde, told reporters that the government intends to file an appeal of the High Court’s ruling, insisting Parris must answer to the charges before a jury. “The matter is not yet over,” Forde said. “An appeal will be filed and at some point in time, Mr Parris will face a jury. There is no merit at all in the decision. In fact, no reasons have been given for the decision.”
Forde also noted that the challenge to Parris’s committal had previously been dismissed by another judge, arguing that the ruling’s flaws made it a clear candidate for appellate review. He added that the state would file its appeal application as soon as Justice Weekes releases her full written reasons for the decision, setting the stage for another years-long round of legal proceedings in one of the Caribbean’s most high-profile corporate fraud cases.