BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FOLLOWING an earlier publication on the termination of services of employees of the International Market Access (St. Kitts) Ltd., General Manager of the company John O’Brien has cleared the air on ownership and the reason for its unprecedented closure.
The International Market Access (St. Kitts Ltd.) is a state-of-the-art call center, which occupies one floor with two distinct wings in a building situated in the vicinity of the Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw International Airport.
In an advertisement published at the opening of the business in 2007, it stated that “The International Market Access (IMA) is an experienced developer and operator of call centers in the Caribbean region. We provide call center services to leading US and European companies. IMA offers both Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Accounts Receivable Management (ARM)…”
O’Brien told SKNVibes that the IMA is owned by a Board of Directors and is not affiliated with the Stanford Financial Group, but with “the Stanford Development Corporation which, according to my knowledge is not under investigation”.
Contrary to what was published, O’Brien said his company had rented part of the building from the Stanford Development Corporation and it is therefore “a landlord/tenant relationship”. However, when questioned about the IMA’s shareholders, he said one of Stanford’s entities was a minor investor.
O’Brien conceded that the final day of employment for the company’s workers is Friday, March 27, 2009, which was published by this media house from a memo that surfaced in the newsroom. He however declared that the amount of employees whose service would be terminated is not 70 but 66…“65 full time employees and one part time”.
“The majority of employees will no longer be working with the IMA as of March 27; however, a few will remain to assist in paper work in closing of the center,” he explained.
The General Manager also said that the main reason for Center’s closure is due to the fact that its soul client, Excel, (a provider of local land line services to the USA) was no longer interested in conducting its business from St. Kitts, “instead, Excel has decided to transition all inbound calls and back office operations to Columbia”.
O’Brien also declared that the IMA’s sites, which were established in Barbados and Antigua in 2003 and 2004 respectively, were sold, but management intends to reopen the St. Kitts’ facility in the future and the employees would be re-employed if it becomes a reality.
“The timeline and likelihood of this reopening is unknown, and that unknown is forcing this very unfortunate closure,” O’Brien said in a memo, which was signed by him.
The memo further reads, “Due to recent events within the Stanford Organization, the management at International Market Access (St. Kitts) Ltd. has been forced to make a very difficult decision. Although we hoped that the financial crisis facing the Stanford Group would not affect our operations it has, due to the unfavorable press coverage, there are too many questions surrounding the premises and as a result, IMA will be closing our doors no later than April 10th, 2009.”
It also stated that all monies owing to the employees, including vacation pay, would be deposited in their accounts at the Royal Bank of Canada by Friday, April 3, 2009.
Allen Stanford was recently charged over a US$8B investment fraud. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said he had orchestrated “a fraudulent, multi-billion dollar investment scheme” based on false promises and fabricated historical return data.
The charges brought against Stanford and three of his companies as well as two executives of the said companies initiated from a raid by US Marshals on the Stanford Financial Group’s offices in Houston, Texas.
