(File photo: Tyler Marr/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

diamond debt

Plaintiff drops diamond case fight with P.A. company

Oct 3, 2019 | 5:00 PM

The Belgian firm that had been suing the Prince Albert company run by city councillor Evert Botha in an eight-year diamond debt saga, has dropped its fight. They cited ongoing frustrations with the legal system as well as huge bills.

Their lawyer said I.D.H. of Antwerp “were bled dry” after a series of delaying tactics by Embee Diamonds. Embee disputes the debt and any delaying tactics, and their lawyer has now appealed an August court judgment in a case that has dragged on for four years. Embee had also unsuccessfully appealed an earlier decision in this case in 2017 when they were told the statute of limitation period on the matter had not expired.

I’m completely lost in this Kafkaesque story _{– David Horowitz}

Speaking to paNOW, managing director of I.D.H, David Horowitz, likened the long, frustrating and apparently legally insurmountable ordeal to a nightmare. They have been trying to get the P.A. company to pay the remainder of their invoice for rough diamonds they supplied them back in 2011. With interest and penalties that debt had risen to over US$700,000.

David Horowitz of I.D.H. Diamonds of Antwerp, Belgium. (idhdiamonds.com)

Court proceedings

Drugs and weapons bust in Stanley Mission, results in two year sentence

15h ago

health care

La Loche recipient of new portable blood analyzer, printer kit

17h ago

Crime

Dangerous driving report at Red Wing, leads to arrest of man with gun

20h ago

“Even my lawyer in Belgium tells me he doesn’t understand what has happened, so what about me without any [legal knowledge] at all?,” Horowitz said. “I’m completely lost in this Kafkaesque story. I’m very upset against Embee Diamonds, but I’m also really frustrated and really fed-up with the legal system.”

Horowitz estimated his company spent between $60,000 and $80,000 on legal costs in trying to pursue his claim.

Client was ‘bled dry’

I.D.H.’s lawyer, Jennifer Pereira, said her client’s frustration was centred on the multiple procedural applications that Embee “has thrown at this file, in our view, to just simply cause delay. The frustration is, while Embee was certainly entitled to raise these procedural issues all along, they simply bled I.D.H. dry.”

This summer a judge dismissed Embee’s attempts to have the case moved to Belgian jurisdiction and ruled their attempt was “simply a tactic meant to delay the plaintiff’s (I.D.H.’s) summary judgment application.”

Embee Diamonds appeals, again

Embee has now appealed that ruling to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. The recent ruling also called on them to cross-examine a former officer with I.D.H. by video link by Sept. 27. A key affidavit from him was part of the case. Court documents in what is a complex technical quagmire show Embee’s appeal is based on what they claim were errors made by the judge. They also argue, among other things, the 28-day deadline they were given to cross-examine the I.D.H. official was unreasonably short and that he was no longer available to be questioned.

Part of Embee’s defence in the case has always been that in or about November 2013, they proposed a deal with I.D.H. to help settle the debt. That entailed the Belgian company acquiring a 10 per cent ownership in Embee and to then get paid in an Embee share redemption scheme. I.D.H. disputes this arrangement. With no apparent opportunity for the cross-examination of the previous I.D.H. official about the purported arrangement, it’s not clear if this argument will ever be resolved in front of a judge.

Despite his frustrations, Horowitz remains philosophical.

“I have no illusion at all that something will ever come of this. You have to put out the negatives in your life and focus on the positives,” he said. “This was taking too much of our energy and that meant missing out on good business opportunities.”

Jennifer Pereira indicated that having withdrawn from the case she would not be the one to take any action to move forward Embee’s appeal, so it was now possible the entire matter would remain in perpetual legal limbo. However, she thought this case was a knock for the industry in this province.

“In the diamond business things are done on a handshake and so, I think for those who are looking for investors in the Saskatchewan diamond industry, this is going to have an impact for sure.”

Embee’s lawyer responds

paNOW reached out to Embee’s lawyer Peter Abrametz Sr. who refuted he’d used delaying tactics to help his client avoid having to pay a debt. He maintains all the invoices and transactions from I.D.H. included a clause that they were governed by Belgian law, and that’s why they are appealing the ruling regarding the proper geographical jurisdiction. He adds his other appeal regarding the statute of limitations—which was unsuccessful—had been aimed at “short-circuiting” what had been a lengthy legal process.

“We’ve made every effort to proceed as expeditiously as possible. We have no control over the court system,” he told paNOW. ‘”If the Belgian company has problems with the amount of time or costs that’s a matter between them and their lawyers.”

Asked if the lengthy matter was now finally over given I.D.H.’s decision to end their claim, Abrametz said it was the first he was hearing that the Belgian company was withdrawing. He said he’d heard that news from their lawyer but not from the company directly.

“If I.D.H. says they’re not pursuing the matter anymore that’s good,” he said. “From our point of view that will hopefully bring an end to the litigation and we’ll be quite happy with that.”

—

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow