A SYNOPSIS OF THE MICHAEL FAMILY BUSINESS/PUBLIC PROFILE

HON. ASOT MICHAEL M.P.

A SYNOPSIS OF THE MICHAEL FAMILY BUSINESS/PUBLIC PROFILE

1900 - 2012

ST. JOHN’S, ANTIGUA

Background

1. (i) The Michael family has been a part of the commercial life of Antigua and Barbuda for more than 100 years. The family has roots in Lebanon, Guadeloupe and Antigua. The patriarch of the family is the now-deceased Asot A. Michael who invested in real-estate holdings and operated dry-goods and clothing stores in Antigua, since 1900.

His son, Patrick Michael, was inducted into the growing business before Mr. Asot Michael’s death, enlarging the commercial and real estate holdings of the Michael family. Patrick married Josette Christine Michael nee Sarkis and started a family.

(ii) Patrick and Josette’s first son was named Asot Michael, in deference to the role played by the patriarch in creating a solid foundation on which to build wealth. In addition to their son, the couple gave birth to two daughters. Patrick Michael died in 1991.

(iii) The family remained anchored in commerce, not in government or the public sector, up until 1997 when Asot Michael joined the public sector. In 2004, for the very first time in the family’s history, Asot Michael offered himself as a candidate for election on the ticket of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ALP). He was elected, but his political party lost the majority in the parliament and the United Progressive Party (UPP) assumed the governance of Antigua and Barbuda after March 23, 2004.

(iv) Asot Michael has since become a political target by the UPP leadership. The leader of the new government has turned to telling lies, half-truths, slander, libel and to employ all forms of harassment imaginable, in order to discredit and injure Asot Michael. No criminal charge has ever been entered against Mr. Asot Michael, for no evidence exists to support any criminal charge. He is undeserving of the treatment meted out to him since 2004, for he has been a remarkably outstanding and talented citizen.

Asot Michael

2.  (i) Asot Michael received his early education in Antigua where he consistently showed great talent. He then attended Barry University and the University of Miami --between the years 1985 to 1991-- where he earned his Bachelor and Master of Business Administration degrees respectively. He was always an outstanding student. He returned to Antigua and, for three years until 1994, managed two businesses, to wit Asot’s Arcade and Michael Real Estate Development and Investment Company. In 1997, he joined the public service as the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, a position in which he served until 2003. Hon. Lester Bird, the Prime Minister, then appointed him a Senator, then a Minister of State, and also appointed him the Junior Finance Minister. The latter post brought him commendable assessments by a former Financial Secretary, by several Prime Ministers, and by the regional and international agencies that interfaced with him as the de facto Minister of Finance.

(ii) Asot Michael contested the March 23, 2004, General Elections and won. The ALP did not win a majority in that race; in fact, 13 of the 17 ALP candidates –including Prime Minister Lester Bird-- lost to UPP candidates. Asot Michael became one of four Members of the Opposition in Parliament. The new Prime Minister, Mr. Baldwin Spencer, pledged to “hound” the new Opposition Member; promised to arrest and jail him; issued veiled and outright threats --in Parliament and out-- to pursue the Member relentlessly; and, PM Spencer established a “Special Task Force” of the Royal Antigua and Barbuda Police Force which reported to the Prime Minister. Since taking office in 2004, the Prime Minister has replaced five Police Commissioners, two of whom complained publicly that he interfered with their ability to lead (Exhibit 1).

(iii) The Police, using search warrants issued by a so-called Justice of the Peace (not a Magistrate or Judge, but a private citizen), on more than one occasion, searched the home of the new Member of Parliament (Exhibit 2). They removed archival and current documents pertaining to the many businesses which Patrick and Josette Michael owned, and which Asot Michael managed. That home is also occupied by Josette Michael, Asot’s mother. The Attorney General, who is the legal advisor to the Prime Minister and to the Government, has filed four civil lawsuits in Antigua, and in Florida, against Asot Michael (and others). The Attorney General also tried unsuccessfully to go fishing for banking information, wherever the seized items from the Michael home revealed that there was a bank account.

(iv) The Attorney General has withdrawn (with prejudice) the frivolous lawsuit which he commenced in Florida, USA (Exhibit 3). He has been prohibited by the Antigua and Barbuda Court from accessing and using Asot Michael’s and Josette Michael’s bank records “in any legal proceedings whether in Antigua or abroad…” (Exhibit 4). The Attorney General has lost every challenge that has been mounted against his lawless acts. Even a Commission of Inquiry, which was initiated to enquire into a matter pertaining to an alleged overpayment, was also brought to an abrupt end when a Judge in the High Court found that a civil case and a Commission of Inquiry could not run on parallel tracks simultaneously (Exhibit 5). Asot Michael has had to defend himself from the unlawful, scurrilous and vicious actions by the UPP leader and government; they have caused him grief and great injury, imperiled his standing in the commercial market, and caused hundreds of articles to appear on the World Wide Web that unjustly cast aspersions on his character and integrity.

Josette Michael

3.  (i) Josette Michael has been a businesswoman in her own right. She is the daughter of Jean Sarkis, a Guadeloupian businessman who was the owner of the largest furniture store in Guadeloupe, French West Indies, and who was extremely wealthy at death. She has operated two thriving businesses in Antigua, including the country’s largest department store --known as Antigua’s Premier Shopping Center. Her stores were located on High Street and Market Street in the heart of the shopping and commercial sector, in the capital. For more than 50 years, Josette Michael has been selling all manner of goods in her stores, and has acquired many properties utilizing the income justly earned.

(ii) Josette Michael has continued to live in the marital home with her son, Asot Michael. She has never been accused of any wrongdoing in her entire life, up until the moment that her son became an elected Member of Parliament in March 2004. Then, after the Police searched her home in 2004 and again in 2007, she has become a target of the unscrupulous and vindictive UPP regime.

(iii) Josette Michael has been named a party to two civil lawsuits by the UPP Attorney General, and numerous unlawful attempts have been made to pry open her bank accounts for a fishing expedition. The courts have ruled in her favour and against the Attorney General on every occasion, barring the use of her seized bank records in any proceedings.

(iv) Each year, Mrs. Michael’s financial statements are audited and have been so done by the Hubert Hood CPA of Management and Financial Consultants, in St. John’s, Antigua. Rental income from properties in Guadeloupe and Antigua are accounted-for and verified. Income from Mrs. Michael’s other enterprises have been recorded.

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