Lieutenant colonel Edward Lamb, a high-ranking civil servant, and his wife, Ruby Lightbourne-Lamb, an heiress to the Brightside Enterprises fortune, were recently ordered to repay more than $2 million in loans and interest to the latter’s mother and the company.
Puisne Judge Shade Subair Williams made the order at the end of a Supreme Court trial, in which the defendants claimed that the much of the loans were forgiven and the remaining funds were either gifted or had no established time frame for repayment.
Lamb, a former commissioner of prisons and Bermuda Regiment commanding officer, and his wife had received in the region of $1.9 millionin loans from Gwyneth and the now deceased Willard Lightbourne in four payments between 2003 and 2009, purportedly to invest in the development of their house at Cashew City in St. David’s and other ventures.
However, it was revealed that as of 2010 less than a quarter of the aggregated amount had been repaid.
There was also the matter of the pair owing a percentage of funds collected in the form of rental payments from the leasing of Cartwheel Cottage in Smith’s Parish and a $90,000 corporate loan specifically given to Mrs Lightbourne-Lamb.
Court documents depicted the additional loans obtained by the Lambs as follows:
(i) The First Loan: A loan made in the principal sum of $165,000.00 with the
requirement of payment of interest at the annual rate of 5%. Prior to the extension and increase on the First Loan, payments were made up until February 2009 thereby reducing the balance owed on the principal sum to $77,421.18.
(ii) The Second Loan: A loan made in the principal sum of $150,000.00 together with an annual interest rate of 6% ($24.66 per day) To date, the whole of the principal sum remains outstanding.
(iii) The Combined First and Third Loan: A loan for the additional sum of $50,000.00 was applied as a top-up to the outstanding balance owed on the First Loan. The current balance owed on this combined loan is $98,148.44 plus interest accruing ($13.44 per day).
(iv) The Fourth Loan (The Bank Transfers): Two transfers were made from the joint HSBC account of Mrs. Lightbourne and the deceased Mr Lightbourne to Mrs. Lightbourne-Lamb and/or Lieutenant colonel Lamb. The first transfer was made on 24 September 2009 in the amount of $1,446,422.96 and the second transfer was made on 16 October 2009 for the sum of $110,020.11. The aggregate principal amount is $1,556,443.07.
(v) The Cottage (Claim for half of Rent Profits): By Voluntary Conveyance dated 14 October 1991 Mrs. Lightbourne and the deceased Mr Lightbourne conveyed a portion of their interests in the real property situated at Cartwheel Cottage in Smith’s Parish (“the Cottage”). The plaintiff claims 50% of the rents and profits received by the defendants in respect of the Cottage for the period of 11 January 2011 onwards.
While the Cottage rents claim was dismissed by Puisne Judge Subair Williams, she demanded the loans be repaid, saying in her summation: “I have rejected the defendants’ evidence that the Deceased forgave the loans made to the defendants. In my earlier analysis of the evidence, I found that the deceased, at best, was prepared to pardon the Defendants for their delays in repaying their debts.”
The Lambs were also ordered to pay the plantiff’s court costs.
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