WILLEMSTAD - Both Hushang Ansary and his daughter Nina, along with other former directors, 'made sure that Ennia was drained'. This is the conclusion of the lawyers of the Ennia insurance group, which has been under the guardianship of the Central Bank CBCS since mid-2018 in connection with the emergency regulations.  

According to the lawyers, these two have displayed boundless greed for personal gain and to support an extravagant lifestyle. But much more importantly: they have squandered the interests of Ennia and its policyholders.”

According to the lawyers of De Brauw from the Netherlands and the Curaçao office Ox&Wolf, that is one perspective on this directors' and officers' liability proceedings, which were won in the first instance by Ennia/CBCS.  

During the appeal, which took place this week, the lawyers also considered 'the other perspective'; that of Ennia and of the insured. "I didn't use the word 'empty' lightly. Time and time again, Ansary and his associates pretend that little is going on. That is not true. Tens of thousands of people rely on Ennia for the financial foundation of their lives. Ennia, therefore, has major obligations towards the insured, which it needs to fulfill.” 

Ennia's solvency deficit amounts to more than one billion guilders. "No wonder", according to the plea of Ennia/CBCS: "Ansary did not put an extra 100 million guilders in Ennia, as he had promised. He put a piece of land in it, which is Mullet Bay on St. Maarten. This subsequently increased in value on paper, allowing him to extract incredibly large sums of money from Ennia.”  

And about another major asset, Ennia's participation in Stewart & Stevenson (S&S), the American company that Hushang Ansary had founded himself, the lawyers state on behalf of Ennia/CBCS: had long been eyeing the lion's share of financing, but he himself walked away with the lion's share of the profit.”  

To the three judges who came over from the Netherlands, especially for this case: “The combination of those things drains an insurer. So, the problems are big, and they are acute.” The lawyers explain: “Ennia has turned to the court to request protection for herself and, ultimately more importantly, the insured. The balance between the perspectives must be restored. Ennia, therefore, urges you to give an expeditious judgment, in the hope and expectation that your Court will oblige the defendants to compensate all damages. Only then can Ennia give the insured what they in turn are entitled to,” said the lawyers representing ENNIA and the Central Bank.