NASSAU, BAHAMAS- The Supreme Court has dismissed a 27-year-old claim brought by a U.S.-based insurance fund (in receivership) against a Bahamian private bank, ruling that the case was marked by inordinate and inexcusable delay, abuse of process, and a lack of any reasonable grounds for proceeding.
The claim, filed in 1998 by the Florida Employers’ Safety Association Self Insurers Fund (In Receivership), named David Sanz, Gulf Atlantis Management Group, Inc., and Deltec Bank & Trust Limited, a Bahamas-based private bank, as defendants. It sought to trace funds connected to criminal proceedings in the United States and resulted in an ex parte injunction freezing assets held by the bank to the order of the First and/or Second Defendants.
Acting Assistant Registrar Adrienne Bellot noted that after securing the injunction, the claimant took no further steps to advance the case for more than 22 years. Deltec Bank later argued that the prolonged inactivity, combined with the absence of a Statement of Claim, rendered the proceedings unworkable, prejudiced the defendants, and amounted to an abuse of the Court’s process. Evidence presented included affidavits filed in 2020 and 2024, outlining the history of the matter and confirming compliance with earlier court orders.
The procedural history reflects minimal activity over nearly three decades. The claimant filed a Generally Indorsed Writ of Summons in June 1998, followed by an urgent ex parte injunction application. The private bank complied with the injunction by disclosing details of the relevant accounts in July 1998. However, no Statement of Claim was ever filed to particularize the allegations, and no further substantive steps were taken by the claimant.
The matter remained dormant until 2020, when the bank filed a Notice of Intention to Proceed along with a strike-out application. Additional applications followed in 2024, including one to substitute the private bank as the Third Defendant after acquiring the portfolio of the originally named institution. While the substitution was granted, the substantive application to strike out the claim remained pending before the Court.
In its ruling, the Court found that the claimant’s prolonged inactivity and failure to advance the case after obtaining injunctive relief strongly indicated an intention to abandon the claim. The Court further held that the delay created a substantial risk that a fair trial would no longer be possible, particularly given the passage of time, the likely loss of documentary evidence, and the difficulty in locating witnesses.
The Court struck out the claim under Rules 26.3(1)(b) and (c) of the Civil Procedure Rules, as well as under its inherent jurisdiction, citing inordinate and inexcusable delay, abuse of process, and the absence of a reasonable cause of action. The Court noted that, without a Statement of Claim, there were no pleaded facts for the defendants to answer, rendering the case effectively unsustainable.
The Court declined to strike out the action on the separate ground of failure to comply with procedural rules, finding that no specific rule, practice direction, or court order had been breached. Costs in the amount of $8,000 were awarded to Deltec Bank & Trust Limited.
