NHT granted seizure order to sell Dexim property in bid to recover $20m from failed housing deal
Published:Sunday | March 30, 2025 | 3:27 AMJovan Johnson - Senior Staff Reporter
The National Housing Trust (NHT) has a court order to seize and sell property belonging to private developer Dexim Holdings Limited to recover $10 million owed under a settlement over a failed $2.5-billion housing deal.
That seizure order was obtained about a month after the court granted an order in October 2024 compelling Dexim to pay $10 million that was due by June 30, 2024.
Last Wednesday, Justice David Batts granted a second order, this time to compel Dexim to pay a second $10 million that was due by December 31, 2024, confirmed attorney Emile Leiba, the managing partner of law firm DunnCox, which is representing the NHT.
That decision also paves the way for NHT to pursue another seizure order against Dexim’s property.
Leiba said “all legal options are being considered, in relation to the recovery of the sums due to the NHT”.
“Not as yet,” he said, when asked whether the NHT has recovered any amounts using the seizure and sell order that was issued last year.
Dexim’s lead attorney, Michael Williams, said Friday he “can’t comment”. The company is led by businessman George Neil.
NHT’s attorneys have confirmed receiving communications from Dexim since the first order was granted in October.
“We cannot communicate Dexim’s latest stance,” Leiba said.
In January 2024, the NHT and Dexim advised the Supreme Court that they had reached a settlement after the NHT sued the developer in September 2022 for alleged failure to provide 200 houses under a $2.5-billion agreement. The November 2023 settlement agreement was issued in a formal court order on January 9, 2024.
Under the settlement, the NHT recalled the $650 million that was advanced to Dexim for the development. The NHT said in March 2024 that it recovered that money, which was secured through a bond with a local bank.
The NHT and Dexim also agreed that Dexim would pay $20 million “in full and final settlement” of the lawsuit that NHT brought, “and any other claims, demands, obligations or entitlements which may arise under the GPP (Guaranteed Purchase Programme).” Those funds were to be paid in two equal instalments – by June 30, 2024, and December 31, 2024.
However, in an affidavit filed on July 23, 2024, the NHT said Dexim did not pay over the first $10 million by the June deadline, “failed to comply with the terms of the order” and was therefore “in breach” of the terms of the settlement.
NHT’s Assistant General Counsel Andre Marriott-Blake, who gave the affidavit, said Leiba advised that up to June 30, there was no communication from Dexim about the matter.
He said with the payment overdue, Leiba wrote to Dexim’s two lawyers – Williams and Dr Mario Anderson – on July 9, 2024, according to an affidavit obtained by The Sunday Gleaner.
In the letter, Leiba reiterated the settlement terms, noting that “neither ourselves nor our client can trace receipt of the said payment of J$10 million in compliance with the agreement. Please, therefore, as a matter of urgency, send us today the proof of payment”.
Leiba said if the payment had not been made, NHT would “hold its hand” for seven days to allow Dexim to make the payment and send proof.
Marriott-Blake said while the NHT has evidence showing that the letter was received at Williams’ office, there was no response. He said Leiba telephoned Anderson on July 16, 2024, to enquire about the payment.
Anderson wrote to Leiba on July 17, acknowledging Leiba’s July 9 letter, according to the documents that NHT disclosed in court.
“Our instructions are that the payment of the sums due [has] not yet been made due to the challenges experienced with Hurricane Beryl,” he said, adding that Dexim was seeking a 60-day extension to make the first payment.
Leiba responded on July 23, advising him that the NHT had rejected the request. He noted that Dexim knew the payment deadline of June 30, “and that Hurricane Beryl occurred subsequently in July”.
“Your client is in breach of the agreement,” Leiba said.
The NHT made its court application to enforce the payment on July 23.
The NHT said its application for court orders was served on Williams, Dexim’s attorney, on October 11, 2024, and a security guard at the location, which shares an address with Dexim, stamped the document “Dexim Holdings Limited”.
The NHT sought an order for Dexim to pay the $10 million “forthwith” and for interest at six per cent from the June 30 due date.
Batts granted the order on October 24.
On November 19, the NHT submitted documents to the Supreme Court for the bailiff of the Corporate Area to be authorised to seize and sell property owned by Dexim to satisfy the order for payment.
The Supreme Court’s registrar signed the seizure and sale order on December 17.
The NHT later sought a similar order to compel payment of the second $10-million payment, as it contended that Dexim missed the December 31, 2024 deadline.
Batts granted the order on March 26. The terms are similar to the October 2024 order, and include interest of six per cent per annum until payment.
The NHT sued Dexim in September 2022 for alleged breaches of their two-year guaranteed purchase agreement, which was signed in 2019 but extended for one year to 2022.
Under the guaranteed purchase programme, the NHT’s only obligation was to market and sell the houses to its contributors, while Dexim was to deal with all aspects of construction. The houses were to be in the Out of the Blue development in Discovery Bay, St Ann.
NHT alleged that the company failed to deliver any of the houses. Dexim, however, rejected that claim and insisted that its efforts to meet the August 2022 deadline were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state agency has been criticised by the Opposition People’s National Party over the agreement, which included a non-disclosure clause that blocked it from speaking about the deal or the settlement.
Amid public backlash, the NHT said persons could access the settlement at the Supreme Court, but the Court Administration Division rejected that, saying it could not release the settlement because of the non-disclosure clause.
The NHT later released the document in February 2024, following an Access to Information request by The Sunday Gleaner.
The NHT reports directly to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, and the signing of the non-disclosure clause resurrected concerns about the use of such by public entities.
The NHT also faced scrutiny over the extent of due diligence it did before it entered into a deal with a company led by Neil, who was the subject of an investigation by the Office of the Contractor General, now subsumed into the Integrity Commission.
In 2016, the contractor general told the Holness administration not to grant a $2.7-billion telecoms licence to Symbiote Investments Limited, a company linked to Neil, because of “adverse traces” against him.
Holness went ahead, but his administration was forced to revoke the licence less than a year later.