Archive for October, 2011

Uncle Clem’s robbed again

Uncle Clem’s robbed again

| 30/10/2011 | 8 Comments

(CNS): A local grocery store on Mary Street in George Town was robbed on Saturday night for the second time in two months. Police said that at around 7:30 yesterday evening (29 October) two masked men entered Uncle Clem’s Store and threatened staff. One of the men was holding what appeared to be a firearm but staff confronted the suspects, who both then ran out of the store stealing a bag containing coins. One of the robbers is described as around 6 feet tall, slim build with dark complexion and the second as around 5 feet 4 inches in height, with a stocky build and a light complexion.  (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

Both of the suspects had their faces covered with black shirts and were wearing gloves, and after fleeing from the shop they ran in the direction of School House Road. Police stated that the suspects had not been apprehended, despite a search of the area, but officers from the CID are continuing investigations and viewing relevant CCTVfootage.   An RCIPS spokesperson also said that the report of the crime was delayed due to witnesses not co-operating with the police.

No one was injured during the crime and on this occasion no shots were fired. When Uncle Clem’s was held up by an armed man in August, the masked gunman entered the shop just before closing and fired a shot into the ceiling before grabbing the cash bag from the register. On that occasion police arrested a 52-year-old man on suspicion of robbery in the wake of the crime but no charges were brought.

Anyone who has any information on this latest robbery is asked to contact Detective Constable Bowen at George Town CID 949 4222 or Crime Stoppers 800-8477 (TIPS.

Continue Reading

Vacancy at family services as boss retires

Vacancy at family services as boss retires

| 30/10/2011 | 39 Comments

(CNS): After some seventeen years as head of the children and family services department Deanna Look Loy has retired. According to a release from GIS the thirty three year veteran of the civil service stepped down on 2 September as a result of reaching the service’s compulsory retirement age. Officials said that an open recruitment process will begin shortly to find a successor to Look Loy who was described as .a “stalwart” by the community affairs minister Mike Adam.  “She was fearless, dedicated and faced many challenges with her trademark enthusiasm and exuberance,” he said. 

“There is no doubt that she has made an indelible mark on the social fabric of the Cayman Islands and many of our lives. She will be missed and we wish her all the very best,” he added.

During her career with the department Look Loy has faced some unique challenges. Soon after taking up the director’s post in 1994 she had to deal with the 1,200 Cuban refugees housed at “Tent City” in the Fairbanks area. Her knowledge of the Spanish language and culture served her well during that national crisis. In the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan Look Loy was awarded the Cayman Islands Certificate and Badge of Honour in 2005 for her work in the community and civil service.

Government officials said that throughout her 17 years with the department she spearheaded the development and implementation of several initiatives including the 1996 Study of the Family in the Caymanian Society.

Data gathered during that study went on to inform the development of various programmes including the establishment of Community Development Services, the National Parenting Programme and a probation and aftercare programme for adult offenders.

She also worked on the implementation of procedures for the management of child abuse referrals and investigations, the Children’s Law and Regulations, the Adoption Law and the Youth Justice Law.  Look Loy also established the Community Development Unit and oversaw research aimed at identifying the needs of older persons within the Cayman Islands.

Having started her civil service career as a Spanish teacher at the Cayman Islands High School in 1975 after earning a degree in Spanish and history from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Jamaica she went on to pursue a diploma in education. 

She then worked at the Ministry of Education in Trinidad & Tobago before returning to Grand Cayman where she took the position as Spanish department head at the Cayman Islands Middle School which later became George Hicks.  By the late eighties she had been appointed as assistant secretary with the Ministry of Health, Education & Social Services, where she assisted with the implementation of Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exams and served as the secretary for the Education Council before becoming the director at DCFS.

 

Continue Reading

Business leaders wanted to guide next generation

Business leaders wanted to guide next generation

| 30/10/2011 | 4 Comments

(CNS):Local business leaders are being asked to step up and volunteer as mentors in the Chamber of Commerce’s mentoring programme for the upcoming academic year. The programme needs Fifty mentors and people from all industry sectors are encouraged to submit an application to take part in the youth development initiative organized by the Chamber in partnership with government. Launched in 2002,Mentoring Cayman has assisted more than 300 high school students to become the next generation of business and community leaders.

“Few bonds in life are more influential than those between a young person and an adult,” said Wil Pineau, CCE, CEO of the Chamber. “Mentoring helps because it guarantees a young person that there is someone who cares about them. Mentors provide their mentees with an experienced friend who is there to help in any number of situations.”

The goals of the Mentoring Cayman programme are to motivate students to achieve higher results in school, as well as introduce students to potential new career paths. It also encourages students to seek post-secondary education and helps students develop into competent and confident individuals.

The programme aims to develop a positive work ethic and raise awareness of mentoring and involves the volunteer mentors taking their charge on one workplace visit each month for seven months.

The official launch of the programme which is under the patronage of the governor Duncan Taylor CBE, will take place on Thursday, 24 November when students meet their mentors for the first time at the opening reception.The first workplace visit scheduled for December.

Mentoring Cayman applications are available for download at www.caymanchamber.ky  Companies or persons interested in being part of, donating to, or sponsoring the Mentoring Cayman programmme should contact Leanna Jarvis at the Chamber of Commerce on leanna.jarvis@caymanchamber.ky or call 949 8090 (ext. 121).

 

Continue Reading

Guilty mother returns to child

Guilty mother returns to child

| 29/10/2011 | 9 Comments

(CNS): As a result of what the judge said were exceptional circumstances, a 32-year-mother was able to return to her family this weekend after receiving a two year suspended sentence for an attack on her own mother. Laverne Gould, who has been deaf since she was a child, pleaded guilty to wounding after she stabbed her mother in the neck at the home they shared in West Bay in April and has been in jail ever since. Gould’s mother suffered further injuries during the struggle when she woke to find her daughter sawing at her neck with a kitchen knife but has since forgiven her. During his sentence ruling Justice Charles Quin said the case was not the usual type of stabbing the courts deal with.

“It has to be said that this is not the normal wounding case that comes before this court,” Justice Quin stated inhis sentencing ruling as he suspended the sentence allowing Gould to go free.

He pointed out that she had never been in trouble before and was not considered by anyone as a danger or aggressive. The judge described the crime as a “clumsy attempt to injure” her mother.

The judge had heard during the sentencing how Gould was of previous good character. She was known to be a kind and loving person who after the incident had shown enormous genuine remorse and had pleaded guilty from the outset. She had written a letter setting out her culpability and remorse only days after her arrest on the night of the attack.

Her defence attorney said it was hard to explain why his client had committed such an uncharacteristic crime but pointed out that at the time she appeared to be under the influence of her four-year-old son’s father, a man she had previously lived with for some seven years but of whom her mother disapproved because of his violent behaviour towards her daughter.

The mother believed the relationship to be abusive and unstable, despite her daughter’s continued love for the man, who the court heard was not assisting with the care and maintenance of their son. The boyfriend disliked Gould’s mother and it was believed that his pressure, plus Gould’s difficult financial circumstances after becoming unemployed and frustrated by her limited communication as a result of what was described in the social enquiry reports as the simplicity of sign language, led her to commit the crime.

The court also heard how Gould’s mother as the victim of the stabbing had forgiven her daughter and, along with her young child, desperately wanted her to come home.
While the judge noted that courts cannot act on the victim's recommendations, he had taken the mother’s wishes into consideration alongside the fact that it was no ordinary case.

“Sometimes we have exceptional cases that do not fall within the normal sentencing guidelines. I do find that the circumstances of this case are exceptional circumstances,” Justice Quin said. “What is clear is that the defendant was a person of good character who has shown genuine remorse. She accepted her culpability at a very early stage.”

The judge said Gould loved her mother and her son and they both wanted her to come home. He said the court had to impose a sentence to reflect the gravity of the offence to which the defendant had pleaded guilty, as he handed down the two year prison sentence. “However in light of the exceptional circumstances surrounding the case I suspend the sentence for two years,” he added.

The judge also ordered that Gould undergo two psycho-educational programmes as recommended by the social worker on the case “Healthy relationships” and “Anger management” and that she must exhibit good behaviour towards her mother.

Continue Reading

Gender equality comes to British throne

Gender equality comes to British throne

| 28/10/2011 | 29 Comments

(BBC): More than a thousand years of royal history will have to change to give daughters and sons equal rights to become Britain's monarch.What's more, all 16 countries which have the Queen as head of state must change their legislation too.Government experts admit they are still examining just which laws need to alter.They have drawn up a list of nine dating back 1689 – but they admit it may not be exhaustive.One problem is that male primogeniture – which gives younger brothers the right to become monarchs ahead of their elder sisters – is based on many centuries of common law rules of property, not anyone piece of legislation.

Legislation being looked at includes: the Bill of Rights 1689, the Act of Settlement 1701, the Coronation Oath Act 1689, the Act of Union with Scotland 1706, Princess Sophia's Precedence Act 1711, the Royal Marriages Act 1772, the Union with Ireland Act 1800, the Accession Declaration Act 1910 and the Regency Act 1937.

Go to article

Continue Reading

First corruption charges filed

First corruption charges filed

| 28/10/2011 | 54 Comments

(CNS): A spokesperson for the police has confirmed that a member of the RCIPS support staff has been charged under the anti-corruption law. The woman is the first person in the Cayman Islands to face charges under the new legislation and is now on bail and bound over to appear in court next month. The female staffer, who has been replaced on required leave, is accused of abusing confidential police data and faces two counts of abuse of public office and two charges of misconduct in a public office. The police have not given details of the crime but said the charges result from an investigation by the RCIPS’ own anti-corruption unit.

“Following an investigation launched by the RCIPS anti-corruption unit in relation to allegations of misuse of confidential police data systems, we can now confirm that a member of RCIPS support staff has been charged in connection with the enquiry,” a spokesperson for the RCIPS stated on Friday afternoon (28 October).

“She was charged earlier today, with two counts of abuse of public office, contrary to section 17 of the anti-corruption law 2008, and two charges of misconduct in a public office. The woman is currently on bail and it is anticipated that she will appear in court on Tuesday, 8 November.”

 

Continue Reading

Anti-tax groups ask Congress to stop paying OECD

Anti-tax groups ask Congress to stop paying OECD

| 28/10/2011 | 1 Comment

(CNS):  A group of activists campaigning for lower taxes in the US have written to the American congress asking the, to cut the USD100m taxpayer subsidy paid to the Organization for Economic and Cooperation Development (OECD) because of what they claim is the agency's opposition to tax competition. In a letter released this week the Coalition for Tax Competition said they had “long been disturbed” about what they said was the OECD’s  'harmful tax competition' project that seeks to hinder the flow of jobs and capital to low-tax nations.

The authors of the letter which include representatives from Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity, the Sovereign Society, the Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights and the National Tax Limitation Committee, wrote that the United States is the world's biggest beneficiary of international capital flows and tax competition and described the contribution made by the AUS government from the public funds to the OECD as “the height of folly.”

Signed by 16 people from various think tanks and taxpayer organizations the letter also criticises the OECD for its trend in supporting certain domestic policies such as 'stimulus' spending, cap-and-trade regulation, and a value-added tax in the US, which the authors say means the US taxpayers are subsidizing further advocacy for bigger government and higher taxes which they claim are against their own interests.

“US taxpayers should not be funding an organization which works against their interests by promoting 'a statist agenda,” the letter states.

Andrew Quinlan, President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and Coordinator for the Coalition for Tax Competition argued that OECD bureaucrats have lived a fat and happy life using the US taxpayer dime. Meanwhile, Dan Mitchell from the Cato Institute said that the OECD is “in love with higher taxes,” and called for the US government to stop sending US taxpayer dollars to the Paris and keep it at home.

See letter here

Continue Reading

World bank blasts abuse of company registration

World bank blasts abuse of company registration

| 28/10/2011 | 0 Comments

(The Economist) : A new report by the World Bank called “The Puppet Masters” has investigated some 150 cases of what it calls “grand corruption”, with a total of $50 billion in illicit assets. Nearly all involved use of companies in which the real ownership was concealed, and of bank accounts, often in respectable countries . The United States is “by far the worst performer” of the countries reviewed. As a test, one of the authors set up a firm in Nevada with a nominee director based in Panama, complete with an American bank account. All he needed was an unnotarised copy of a driving licence (which showed an out-of-date address) and $3,695.

The report recommends tightening the definition of “beneficial ownership” to focus on the control exercised over a company and the benefitderived; the end point should always be a human being, not another legal entity. Banks and companies providing registration services should widen their due diligence to include this. Nominee directors should disclose whom they report to. Complex structures with more than three layers of ownership should arouse especial scrutiny and have to explain themselves. Other recommendations are that company registries should be searchable online and operators should make an effort to verify the information supplied.

Go to article

See full report here
 

Continue Reading

Local accountant’s body backs push for professor

Local accountant’s body backs push for professor

| 28/10/2011 | 0 Comments

CNS): The Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants has thrown its support behind the International College of the Cayman Islands' fundraising initiative in order to allow the college to hire a full-time professor in accounting. The college described the goal as a strategic move to raise the bar in higher education and attract more corporate sponsors. CISPA is committing to an $18,500 sponsorship over a three-year period to help fund the academic chair — a university designation given to a professor for specialized knowledge and research.

A driving factor behind CISPA’s sponsorship was sending a message that investing in college education, even in a shaky economy, is a smart investment in the skilled labour force and will help the Cayman Islands stay competitive in the long run, explained CISPA President Jeff Short.

“This sponsorship will further enhance and allow the International College to grow its high quality accounting programme,” said Short. “Given the International College’s importance of training accountants for our financial services sector, CISPA has helped promote sponsorship from other organizations and companies. With this new initiative, as well as their new business building, it is a very exciting time at the International College. We wish them great success."

Student enrolment among high school graduates and mature adults is growing in the accounting, finance, banking and management programmes to meet the demands of a competitive business environment, explained International College President John Cummings, PhD.

“Having CISPA’s support in hiring a full-time professor who understands the dynamics of the financial services sector will bring our business programme to a new level,” Dr Cummings stated in a release. “The timing for hiring a professor couldn’t be better as we just opened our new business building for the fall term, which will enable us to accept more students into our business programmes.”

As a non-profit, private institution, the International College has made it a priority to offer affordable tuition to both Caymanians and residents and still maintain its international accreditation, which undergoes a rigorous review every few years.

International College Dean Scott Cummings expressed his gratitude to CISPA for their three-year sponsorship commitment to the academic chair.

“CISPA has been incredibly generous with their professional advice and financial support,” said the Dean. “Providing this level of corporate sponsorship for the academic chair is invaluable in providing the best possible opportunity for success to our business and accounting students.

“CISPA has always stood ready to assist us with the growth and development of our business programme and this academic chair is the next step in the evolution of our programme,” he added.

Continue Reading

Olympus paid mystery Cayman Islands firms

Olympus paid mystery Cayman Islands firms

| 28/10/2011 | 1 Comment

(Techeye): Japanese camera manufacturer Olympus has found itself embroiled in a controversy with some mysterious Cayman Islands-based companies. The Wall Street Journal says that Olympus paid much of the $1 billion it spent on three Japanese start-ups to mysterious businesses in the Cayman Islands. The WSJ saw an independent 2009 panel report by auditors for Olympus' board.  A company executive said he hasn't a clue about the companies, claiming the only information is the name of them along with their bank account details. After Olympus gave them the money, it's reported that three companies were either dissolved or shut down.

Go to article
 

Continue Reading